LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Northland Securities upgraded LendingTree from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on LendingTree from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Northland Capmk upgraded LendingTree from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.13.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of TREE traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $38.05. The stock had a trading volume of 46,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,155. LendingTree has a twelve month low of $34.55 and a twelve month high of $62.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $515.01 million, a PE ratio of -14.09 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.78 and a 200 day moving average of $44.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $239.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.93 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LendingTree will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at LendingTree

In other news, COO Scott Peyree acquired 9,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.13 per share, with a total value of $451,797.22. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,500,719.58. This represents a 11.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 23.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 248.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co acquired a new position in LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth about $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.