LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $41.45, but opened at $42.90. LendingTree shares last traded at $46.83, with a volume of 137,776 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on TREE. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of LendingTree from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Northland Capmk raised shares of LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LendingTree presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

LendingTree Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.58 and a 200-day moving average of $48.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67. The stock has a market cap of $620.04 million, a PE ratio of -17.19 and a beta of 2.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LendingTree news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.54, for a total value of $29,632.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas R. Lebda acquired 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.72 per share, with a total value of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,829,912.28. The trade was a 11.97 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 23.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in LendingTree by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 356,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,681,000 after buying an additional 10,497 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of LendingTree by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 253,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in LendingTree by 6.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 88,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in LendingTree by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

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.