Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in LendingTree, Inc. by 4.3%, owning approximately 2.64% of the company worth $17.98 million as of its recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen Asset Management and Tower Research Capital, have also boosted their holdings in LendingTree, indicating strong institutional interest with 68.26% of the stock owned by investors and hedge funds.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on LendingTree, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price range from $62.00 to $70.00, following a positive earnings report that beat expectations.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,644 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 2.64% of LendingTree worth $17,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 204,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,940,000 after buying an additional 27,887 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 248.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in LendingTree by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 94,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 6,011 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of LendingTree during the 4th quarter valued at $441,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 5.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingTree

In other LendingTree news, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.86, for a total value of $445,455.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $448,760.62. The trade was a 49.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $69,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 1,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,075.92. The trade was a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock worth $598,331. 23.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LendingTree Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:TREE traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $71.70. The company had a trading volume of 27,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,554. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.50 and a 1 year high of $74.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $55.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $976.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.66 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on TREE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of LendingTree from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Truist Financial set a $62.00 target price on LendingTree and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LendingTree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.38.

LendingTree Company Profile

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.