LendingClub Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:LC)

LendingClub Corporation (NYSE:LC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 4,675 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 121% compared to the average daily volume of 2,116 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingClub

In other news, Director Erin Selleck sold 2,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.82, for a total value of $40,199.80. Following the sale, the director owned 73,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,244,461.34. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $578,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,210,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,342,250.30. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 83,293 shares of company stock worth $1,486,287 in the last 90 days. 3.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingClub

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in LendingClub by 18.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,960,550 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $120,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,861 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC increased its position in LendingClub by 23.5% during the second quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 5,881,290 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,752,000 after buying an additional 1,117,241 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in LendingClub by 8.6% during the first quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,897,322 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,220,000 after buying an additional 308,523 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in LendingClub by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,699,141 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,476,000 after buying an additional 34,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in LendingClub by 258.2% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,391,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,658 shares during the last quarter. 74.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LendingClub Trading Up 3.4%

NYSE:LC traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.44. 860,092 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,714,212. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 2.14. LendingClub has a fifty-two week low of $7.90 and a fifty-two week high of $19.88.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $107.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.27 million. LendingClub had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 10.94%.LendingClub’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that LendingClub will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

LendingClub announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on LC. Janney Montgomery Scott upped their price target on shares of LendingClub from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised LendingClub from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $17.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on LendingClub from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of LendingClub in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.14.

LendingClub Company Profile

LendingClub Corporation, operates as a bank holding company, that provides range of financial products and services in the United States. It offers deposit products, including savings accounts, checking accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loan products, such as consumer loans comprising unsecured personal loans, secured auto refinance loans, and patient and education finance loans; and commercial loans, including small business loans.