Match Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH – Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 4,309 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 122% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,944 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 4,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.26, for a total value of $201,157.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,742 shares in the company, valued at $496,216.92. This represents a 28.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Philip D. Eigenmann sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $625,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 19,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $808,521.30. This represents a 43.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,291 shares of company stock worth $976,478 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Match Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Match Group by 91.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 903 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Match Group by 1,319.4% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 951 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Match Group by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,254 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Match Group by 141.5% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Match Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MTCH. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Match Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Match Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Match Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Match Group in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.46.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Match Group

Match Group Stock Up 1.6%

Match Group stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $41.14. The stock had a trading volume of 239,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,080,534. Match Group has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $44.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.71. The stock has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.32.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $853.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $857.77 million. Match Group had a negative return on equity of 324.82% and a net margin of 20.17%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Match Group will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio is 28.27%.

Match Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Match Group, Inc is a provider of online dating and social discovery services. The company operates a portfolio of dating platforms designed to help people form connections, including Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, Meetic, OurTime, BLK and Chispa. Its services are offered through websites and mobile applications, with features that may include profile discovery, messaging, matching, subscriptions and other paid enhancements.

Match Group serves users in markets around the world, with brands tailored to different audiences, relationship goals, age groups and geographic regions.

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