Short Interest in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Rises By 55.5%

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 315,600 shares, a growth of 55.5% from the October 15th total of 202,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 218,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingTree

In other news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.54, for a total transaction of $29,632.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of LendingTree during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,380,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 256,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,868,000 after acquiring an additional 89,900 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,651,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 292,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,182,000 after purchasing an additional 58,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 118.0% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 7,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 50,910 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TREE. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens raised their target price on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on LendingTree from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

LendingTree Stock Down 8.5 %

TREE opened at $44.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.00 and a 200-day moving average of $49.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $592.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.42 and a beta of 2.11. 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 has a 1-year low of $15.10 and a 1-year high of $62.49.

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.