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

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) COO Scott Peyree purchased 9,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.13 per share, for a total transaction 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 $4,500,719.58. This trade represents a 11.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, March 11th, Scott Peyree bought 21,045 shares of LendingTree stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.69 per share, for a total transaction of $877,366.05.

LendingTree Trading Up 1.5 %

LendingTree stock opened at $49.44 on Thursday. LendingTree, Inc. has a one year low of $33.58 and a one year high of $62.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $662.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.31 and a beta of 2.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on TREE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TREE. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in LendingTree by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 48.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 20,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 6,727 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management grew its stake in shares of LendingTree by 30.5% in the third quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 21,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 5,072 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in LendingTree by 27.9% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 16,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in LendingTree during the third quarter worth $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.