COO & President of Marketplace Businesses of LendingTree Scott Peyree Buys 47% More Shares

Those following along with LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by Scott Peyree, COO & President of Marketplace Businesses of the company, who spent a stonking US$1.4m on stock at an average price of US$42.91. Aside from being a solid chunk in its own right, the deft move also saw their holding increase by some 47%.

Check out our latest analysis for LendingTree

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At LendingTree

In fact, the recent purchase by Scott Peyree was the biggest purchase of LendingTree shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of US$49.26. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 54.06k shares worth US$2.3m. But insiders sold 13.31k shares worth US$657k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by LendingTree insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that LendingTree insiders own 18% of the company, worth about US$122m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The LendingTree Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest LendingTree insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. That's what I like to see! While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for LendingTree you should know about.

Of course LendingTree may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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