LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) COO Purchases $877,366.05 in Stock

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) COO Scott Peyree bought 21,045 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.69 per share, with a total value of $877,366.05. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,124.40. This represents a 37.77 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

LendingTree Stock Up 5.8 %

Shares of LendingTree stock opened at $49.26 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.32. The company has a market cap of $659.79 million, a P/E ratio of -18.24 and a beta of 2.14. LendingTree, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.58 and a 12-month high of $62.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TREE. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Northland Securities raised shares of LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $65.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its position in LendingTree by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 361,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Blue Grotto Capital LLC increased its position in LendingTree by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 301,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,694,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in LendingTree by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 253,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,595 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in LendingTree by 6.8% during 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in LendingTree by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 204,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,940,000 after purchasing an additional 27,887 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.