Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 20,472 Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 20,472 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Match Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,672,611 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $668,732,000 after acquiring an additional 391,977 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in Match Group in the 3rd quarter worth $361,605,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Match Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,818,000 after purchasing an additional 939,078 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Match Group by 10.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,540,916 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $209,668,000 after purchasing an additional 524,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $87,267,000 after purchasing an additional 69,947 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTCH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Match Group in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Match Group from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $55,533.40. This represents a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Match Group Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $32.03 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.31. Match Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $38.84. The company has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts forecast that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.62%.

Match Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Match Group 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.