Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) Stake Reduced by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,153 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Match Group were worth $2,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Match Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 10,956 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Match Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 25,952 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 617.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. River Global Investors LLP boosted its stake in shares of Match Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. River Global Investors LLP now owns 82,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Match Group by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,533.40. The trade was a 99.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Match Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Match Group in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Match Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.68.

Match Group Price Performance

Match Group stock opened at $32.62 on Friday. Match Group, Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $38.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.36. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Match Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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 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.