Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Trims Stake in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its stake in shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) by 67.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,649 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in LendingTree were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TREE. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in LendingTree by 1,747.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 546,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,260,000 after purchasing an additional 516,958 shares during the last quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 69.0% during the second quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC now owns 305,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,328,000 after purchasing an additional 124,806 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in LendingTree during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,359,000. Blue Grotto Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 382,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,183,000 after acquiring an additional 82,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in LendingTree by 53.4% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 224,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,305,000 after purchasing an additional 78,012 shares in the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TREE. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of LendingTree from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on LendingTree from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.67.

LendingTree Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ TREE opened at $58.51 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.48. LendingTree, Inc. has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $77.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $799.83 million, a PE ratio of 57.93 and a beta of 2.08.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.47. LendingTree had a return on equity of 36.30% and a net margin of 1.34%.The company had revenue of $290.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.36 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

About LendingTree

LendingTree, Inc operates an online marketplace that connects consumers with a network of lenders and financial service providers. Through its platform, borrowers can compare loan offers for mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans, student loans, auto loans and small business financing. The company also offers tools for comparing credit cards and deposit accounts, allowing users to research rates and terms from a range of providers in one place.

Founded in 1996 by Doug Lebda, LendingTree pioneered the comparison-shopping model for consumer credit products.