Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 490,955 Shares of LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. significantly reduced its holdings in LendingTree, Inc. by 96.7%, leaving it with just 16,705 shares worth approximately $840,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd., have recently increased their stakes in LendingTree, contributing to a total of 68.26% institutional ownership of the stock.
• Analysts have issued positive ratings for LendingTree, with a current consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $65.38, after the company reported a quarterly earnings of $1.13 EPS exceeding expectations.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) by 96.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 490,955 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.12% of LendingTree worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 248.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 4,509.1% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 4,926.7% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,262 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,217 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in LendingTree by 497.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in LendingTree by 68.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered LendingTree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price target on LendingTree and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $65.38.

Insider Activity at LendingTree

In other LendingTree news, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction on 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 $448,760.62. This trade represents a 49.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel owned 1,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,075.92. This trade represents a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331. 23.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TREE traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $68.31. The stock had a trading volume of 16,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,283. 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 company has a market cap of $930.33 million, a P/E ratio of -16.89 and a beta of 1.69. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.50 and a 1 year high of $70.72. The business's 50 day moving average price is $50.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.33.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 25.79% and a negative net margin of 5.33%.The business had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $244.03 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.