LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Trading Down 4.9% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• LendingTree shares fell 4.9% to a closing price of $54.13, with trading volume significantly down by 66% compared to the average.
• Needham & Company upgraded LendingTree's target price from $62 to $70 with a "buy" rating, while Zacks downgraded it to "hold," leading to mixed analyst sentiments.
• The company showed a positive quarterly performance, reporting a 19% increase in revenue year-over-year and beating EPS estimates with $1.13 compared to the expected $1.09.

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) traded down 4.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $51.55 and last traded at $54.13. 103,142 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 300,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TREE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research downgraded LendingTree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded LendingTree from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised LendingTree from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.38.

LendingTree Stock Down 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $758.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.72 and a beta of 1.71.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $244.03 million. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 25.79% and a negative net margin of 5.33%.LendingTree's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,075.92. The trade was a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $448,760.62. This trade represents a 49.82% 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. 23.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in LendingTree by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in LendingTree by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of LendingTree by 4.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 23.7% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 4,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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