LendingClub (NYSE:LC) Trading 7.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC)’s share price shot up 7.3% during trading on Friday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $20.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. LendingClub traded as high as $17.32 and last traded at $17.30. 402,099 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 775,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.13.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of LendingClub from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Maxim Group upped their target price on LendingClub from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 target price (up previously from $14.00) on shares of LendingClub in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of LendingClub from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.63.

Insider Activity at LendingClub

In other LendingClub news, General Counsel Jordan Cheng sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.83, for a total value of $326,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 89,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,579.55. This represents a 19.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.12, for a total value of $274,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,312,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,152,406.08. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,500 shares of company stock worth $1,158,610. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingClub

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of LendingClub by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 998,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,409,000 after purchasing an additional 45,307 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in LendingClub by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,559,805 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,265,000 after purchasing an additional 42,429 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of LendingClub by 206.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 225,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,582,000 after buying an additional 152,224 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 55.4% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 19,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 7,054 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 21.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 838,535 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,584,000 after buying an additional 148,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.08% of the company’s stock.

LendingClub Trading Up 8.6 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.84 and a 200-day moving average of $12.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.07 and a beta of 2.03.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $201.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.40 million. LendingClub had a return on equity of 4.02% and a net margin of 6.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that LendingClub Co. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

About LendingClub

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.