Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,328,984 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 342,388 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.08% of Match Group worth $992,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Match Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in Match Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Match Group by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,035 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Match Group by 420.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Match Group by 126.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,958 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the period. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTCH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Match Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Match Group in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. HSBC lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total value of $7,958,987.74. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at $55,533.40. This represents a 99.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Match Group Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MTCH opened at $30.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.80. The company has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45. Match Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $38.84.

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

Match Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.62%.

Match Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Match Group

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.