LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

TREE has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded LendingTree from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.13.

LendingTree Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TREE opened at $38.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. LendingTree has a 1 year low of $34.55 and a 1 year high of $62.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $524.35 million, a PE ratio of -14.35 and a beta of 1.76. The business's 50 day moving average price is $46.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.55.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.25. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 0.51% and a negative net margin of 4.72%. The business had revenue of $239.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.93 million. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LendingTree news, COO Scott Peyree acquired 9,794 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.13 per share, for a total transaction of $451,797.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 97,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,500,719.58. This represents a 11.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 23.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in LendingTree by 4.8% in the first quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 378,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,030,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares during the period. Blue Grotto Capital LLC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 301,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,694,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its stake in LendingTree by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 249,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,543,000 after purchasing an additional 9,007 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 242,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,393,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 204,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,940,000 after purchasing an additional 27,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.