LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on TREE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on LendingTree from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LendingTree presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $74.29.

LendingTree Trading Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:TREE opened at $52.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $712.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.83 and a beta of 1.75. LendingTree has a 52 week low of $33.50 and a 52 week high of $77.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.27 and a 200 day moving average of $51.58.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $307.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.36 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. LendingTree has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.86, for a total transaction of $445,455.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $448,760.62. This trade represents a 49.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $69,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,075.92. The trade was a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331. Company insiders own 23.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TREE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in LendingTree by 272.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of LendingTree by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of LendingTree by 281.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LendingTree

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.