PDT Partners LLC Takes Position in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC acquired 6,951 shares of LendingTree, Inc. for approximately $349,000, marking a new position in the financial services provider.
• Multiple institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in LendingTree, including Lazard Asset Management, which boosted its holdings by 4,509.1% in the last quarter.
• Analysts have varied ratings on LendingTree, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $65.38, reflecting renewed interest in the stock.

PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $349,000. PDT Partners LLC owned 0.05% of LendingTree at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 45.7% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 118,430 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,953,000 after purchasing an additional 37,122 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 68.2% in the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 806.4% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Agricole S A raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 36,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,816,000 after buying an additional 21,186 shares in the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TREE shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LendingTree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. 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. Finally, Truist Financial set a $62.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.38.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of LendingTree stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.49. 46,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 315,086. The company has a market cap of $973.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.61 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.11. LendingTree, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $74.15.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingTree

In other LendingTree news, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total value of $83,736.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,125.14. This trade represents a 12.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 6,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $448,760.62. The trade was a 49.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock worth $598,331. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.