LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Shares Gap Up to $40.98

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $40.98, but opened at $42.09. LendingTree shares last traded at $42.85, with a volume of 28,146 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TREE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of LendingTree from $24.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on LendingTree from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

LendingTree Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.99 and a 200-day moving average of $25.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $555.63 million, a P/E ratio of -4.55 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $134.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.55 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 18.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.53) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that LendingTree, Inc. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,260,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,890,000 after buying an additional 26,934 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 345,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952 shares in the last quarter. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 186.2% in the fourth quarter. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. now owns 343,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 223,440 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in LendingTree by 35.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 332,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,344,000 after purchasing an additional 87,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in LendingTree by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 257,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,486,000 after purchasing an additional 13,800 shares in the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.