LendingClub (NYSE:LC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 806,174 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 46% from the previous session’s volume of 1,502,282 shares.The stock last traded at $17.89 and had previously closed at $17.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LC. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 price target (up from $13.00) on shares of LendingClub in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of LendingClub from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of LendingClub from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of LendingClub in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LendingClub currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.00.

LendingClub Stock Down 6.8 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04 and a beta of 2.02.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $201.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.40 million. LendingClub had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 4.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LendingClub Co. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingClub

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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,356,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,041,067.57. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jordan Cheng sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.83, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 19.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,500 shares of company stock worth $1,073,100 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LendingClub

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,559,805 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,265,000 after acquiring an additional 42,429 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in LendingClub by 206.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 225,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 152,224 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in LendingClub by 55.4% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 19,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 7,054 shares during the period. 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 valued at $9,584,000 after buying an additional 148,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,896,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,541,000 after buying an additional 82,315 shares during the last quarter. 74.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.