Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired approximately $7.34 million worth of shares in LendingTree, representing about 1.46% of the company's stock by the end of the second quarter.
• LendingTree's stock performance highlights a 1-year price range between $33.50 and $74.15, with a current market cap of $1 billion and a P/E ratio of -18.16.
• Analysts have shown increasing confidence in LendingTree, with multiple institutions raising their price targets and ratings, including a recent upgrade to a strong-buy by Wall Street Zen and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 197,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,337,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 1.46% of LendingTree at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in LendingTree by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 94,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 6,011 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 23,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 3,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 280.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 25,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 18,610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company's stock.

LendingTree Price Performance

LendingTree stock opened at $73.74 on Tuesday. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.50 and a 1 year high of $74.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.05. The company has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.16 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The company had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.03 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LendingTree news, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.86, for a total transaction of $445,455.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,517 shares in the company, valued at $448,760.62. The trade was a 49.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total transaction of $83,736.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $566,125.14. This represents a 12.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,669 shares of company stock worth $598,331 over the last ninety days. 23.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price target on shares of LendingTree and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of LendingTree from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of LendingTree from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.38.

About LendingTree

LendingTree, Inc, through its subsidiary, operates online consumer platform in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home, Consumer, and Insurance. The Home segment offers purchase mortgage, refinance mortgage, and home equity loans and lines of credit; and real estate brokerage services.

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