Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MTCH. Barclays decreased their target price on Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Match Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Match Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.58.

Match Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $30.07 on Friday. Match Group has a 52 week low of $26.39 and a 52 week high of $38.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.62. The firm has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.22). Match Group had a net margin of 15.84% and a negative return on equity of 574.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Match Group will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.62%.

Insider Activity at Match Group

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total transaction of $7,958,987.74. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,533.40. This trade represents a 99.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Match Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Match Group by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,510 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 28,884 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Match Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,818,000 after buying an additional 939,078 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Match Group by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,733,000 after buying an additional 866,026 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. grew its holdings in Match Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 478,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,665,000 after acquiring an additional 8,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Match Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,667,907 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,267,000 after acquiring an additional 69,947 shares during the period. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Match Group Company Profile

Match Group, Inc engages in the provision of dating products. Its portfolio of brands includes Tinder, Hinge, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Pairs, Plenty Of Fish, Azar, BLK, and Hakuna, as well as a various other brands, each built to increase users' likelihood of connecting with others. Its services are available in over 40 languages to users worldwide.