Trexquant Investment LP Grows Stake in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in LendingTree by 45.7%, acquiring an additional 37,122 shares, bringing its total holding to approximately $5.95 million.
• Multiple investors like Nuveen LLC and Squarepoint Ops LLC have also significantly altered their positions in LendingTree, highlighting increased institutional interest as 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Research analysts have given LendingTree a favorable outlook, with two strong buy ratings and an average target price of $65.38, following recent upgrades from notable firms like Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Needham & Company.

Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) by 45.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,430 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 37,122 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.87% of LendingTree worth $5,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its stake in LendingTree by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 378,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,030,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust increased its holdings in LendingTree by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 249,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,543,000 after acquiring an additional 9,007 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in LendingTree during the first quarter valued at about $11,603,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 27,887 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of LendingTree by 1.3% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 168,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company's stock.

LendingTree Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of LendingTree stock traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $71.81. 219,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 305,082. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $52.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. LendingTree, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.50 and a 52 week high of $73.26. The company has a market cap of $978.05 million, a PE ratio of -17.69 and a beta of 1.69.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last posted 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 negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The firm had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.03 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $445,455.34. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at $566,125.14. This trade represents a 12.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 23.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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