LendingClub (NYSE:LC) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Compass Point raised their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $19.00. The stock had previously closed at $13.82, but opened at $14.34. Compass Point currently has a buy rating on the stock. LendingClub shares last traded at $14.31, with a volume of 231,645 shares traded.

LC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on LendingClub from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded LendingClub from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $11.50 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LendingClub from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of LendingClub in a report on Thursday. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of LendingClub from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.09, for a total value of $188,530.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,356,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,041,067.57. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 51,703 shares of company stock valued at $562,705 over the last quarter. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingClub

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of LendingClub in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of LendingClub by 259.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in LendingClub by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 7,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in LendingClub during the second quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in LendingClub in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.08% of the company’s stock.

LendingClub Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76 and a beta of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.02.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $201.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.40 million. LendingClub had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The company’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that LendingClub Co. will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

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.