Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 27,887 Shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 204,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,887 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in LendingTree were worth $7,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in TREE. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its stake in LendingTree by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 361,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,997,000 after buying an additional 4,831 shares during the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 301,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,694,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 242,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,393,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 166,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,459,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in LendingTree by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 93,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after buying an additional 5,277 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TREE shares. 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. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on LendingTree from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on LendingTree from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of LendingTree in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.13.

Insider Transactions at LendingTree

In related news, COO Scott Peyree bought 9,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.13 per share, for a total transaction of $451,797.22. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,500,719.58. The trade was a 11.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 23.10% of the company’s stock.

LendingTree Stock Performance

Shares of TREE opened at $38.74 on Friday. LendingTree, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.55 and a 12-month high of $62.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67. The company has a market cap of $524.35 million, a PE ratio of -14.35 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.55.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $239.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.93 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 4.72% and a positive return on equity of 0.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LendingTree 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.