D.A. Davidson & CO. Decreases Position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 74.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,044 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 91,795 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Match Group were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTCH. Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in Match Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $361,605,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Match Group by 2,732.1% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,659,718 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601,115 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Match Group by 3,325.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,122,906 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090,127 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Match Group by 17.0% during the 4th 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. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Match Group by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,733,000 after purchasing an additional 866,026 shares during the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Match Group in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Match Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Match Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.68.

Match Group Price Performance

Shares of MTCH stock opened at $32.77 on Monday. Match Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $38.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.59.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 574.22% and a net margin of 15.84%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Match Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 2.32%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.62%.

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.