LendingTree CFO & Treasurer Jason Bengel Sells 50% Of Holding

Anyone interested in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) should probably be aware that the CFO & Treasurer, Jason Bengel, recently divested US$445k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$68.86 each. That sale was 50% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At LendingTree

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by COO & President of Marketplace Businesses Scott Peyree for US$1.4m worth of shares, at about US$46.04 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$67.72. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 63.85k shares for US$2.7m. But insiders sold 10.48k shares worth US$673k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by LendingTree insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for LendingTree

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that LendingTree insiders own 19% of the company, worth about US$178m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At LendingTree Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. On the other hand, the insider transactions over the last year are encouraging. We are also comforted by the high levels of insider ownership. So we're happy to look past recent trading. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing LendingTree. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for LendingTree you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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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