LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $56.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

TREE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of LendingTree from $15.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LendingTree from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of LendingTree from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LendingTree from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.43.

LendingTree Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TREE opened at $40.79 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.88 and a 200 day moving average of $36.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $539.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.93 and a beta of 2.13. LendingTree has a 12-month low of $10.12 and a 12-month high of $52.76.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by $0.36. The company had revenue of $167.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.03 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 21.07% and a positive return on equity of 1.34%. On average, research analysts anticipate that LendingTree will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at LendingTree

In other LendingTree news, Director Gabriel Dalporto sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $72,345.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,478 shares in the company, valued at $224,661.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other LendingTree news, Director Gabriel Dalporto sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $72,345.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,478 shares in the company, valued at $224,661.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Trent Ziegler sold 8,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.30, for a total transaction of $431,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,802 shares of company stock valued at $673,219. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 78.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the 4th quarter worth about $103,000. Bristlecone Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the 1st quarter worth about $327,000. Institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

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.