LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $68.00. The stock had previously closed at $40.27, but opened at $47.84. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. LendingTree shares last traded at $48.31, with a volume of 219,242 shares trading hands.

TREE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Northland Securities upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its position in LendingTree by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 361,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,997,000 after buying an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Blue Grotto Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 301,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,694,000 after acquiring an additional 11,784 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 253,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in LendingTree by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 242,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,393,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in LendingTree by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 204,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,940,000 after purchasing an additional 27,887 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LendingTree Trading Up 22.5 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.79. The stock has a market cap of $659.28 million, a P/E ratio of -18.27 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

LendingTree Company Profile

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.