LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• LendingTree has been upgraded to a strong-buy rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased confidence in the stock's performance.
• Analysts have set an average target price of $65.38, with several firms raising their price targets, including a substantial increase from Needham & Company LLC to $70.00.
• Despite some insider selling, institutional investors own approximately 68.26% of the company's stock, reflecting significant interest from larger financial entities.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. 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. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price 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 target price on LendingTree and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $65.38.

LendingTree Stock Performance

Shares of LendingTree stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.51. The company had a trading volume of 239,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,485. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $58.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of -18.84 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. LendingTree has a 1-year low of $33.50 and a 1-year high of $77.35.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $250.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.03 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The company's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that LendingTree will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at LendingTree

In related news, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total value 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. The trade was a 12.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $69,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,075.92. This represents a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331 over the last ninety days. 23.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 25.2% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 281.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 4,509.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 11.4% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 4,926.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,262 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 2,217 shares during the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.