Banco Santander S.A. Grows Stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 50.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,521 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,901 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Match Group were worth $868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MTCH. State Street Corp increased its stake in Match Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,672,611 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $668,732,000 after buying an additional 391,977 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in shares of Match Group during the third quarter worth approximately $361,605,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Match Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $211,818,000 after purchasing an additional 939,078 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Match Group by 10.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,540,916 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $209,668,000 after purchasing an additional 524,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Match Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,667,907 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $87,267,000 after purchasing an additional 69,947 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Match Group Stock Up 4.1 %

MTCH opened at $32.62 on Monday. Match Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $38.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.34. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last announced its 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 expect that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s payout ratio is 37.62%.

Match Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTCH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Match Group from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lowered Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Match Group

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

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.