Insider Buying: LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) COO Acquires 9,794 Shares of Stock

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) COO Scott Peyree bought 9,794 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.13 per share, with a total value of $451,797.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,500,719.58. The trade was a 11.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Scott Peyree also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 11th, Scott Peyree acquired 21,045 shares of LendingTree stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.69 per share, with a total value of $877,366.05.

LendingTree Trading Up 1.9 %

TREE stock traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.18. 189,063 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 231,348. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $672.11 million, a P/E ratio of -18.59 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.26. LendingTree, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.58 and a 12-month high of $62.49.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,603 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 2,074.7% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 107,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 103,032 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TREE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Northland Securities raised shares of 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $78.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LendingTree currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.75.

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.