LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 678,300 shares, a drop of 42.0% from the December 31st total of 1,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 312,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 6.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Douglas R. Lebda acquired 13,000 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 121,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,829,912.28. This represents a 11.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 564 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in LendingTree in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,651,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of LendingTree in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,612,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of LendingTree during the third quarter worth approximately $1,045,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in LendingTree by 301.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 16,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in LendingTree by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 242,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,393,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TREE. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of LendingTree from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Northland Securities upgraded LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on LendingTree from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on LendingTree from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

LendingTree Stock Performance

LendingTree stock traded down $2.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.93. 165,335 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 262,747. LendingTree has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $62.49. The stock has a market cap of $600.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.64 and a beta of 2.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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.