LSV Asset Management Acquires 357,222 Shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 92.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 742,822 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 357,222 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.30% of Match Group worth $24,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTCH. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Match Group by 716.8% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,254,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $171,889,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611,598 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Match Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,176,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Match Group by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,624,212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $183,968,000 after buying an additional 2,952,470 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Match Group by 4,659.2% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,915,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,643,000 after buying an additional 1,874,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Match Group by 2,732.1% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,659,718 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,804,000 after buying an additional 1,601,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Match Group

In related news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of Match Group 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,533.40. The trade was a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. HSBC cut shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Match Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Match Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Match Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.63.

Match Group Price Performance

Match Group stock opened at $28.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.58 and a 200-day moving average of $33.22. Match Group, Inc. has a one year low of $26.39 and a one year high of $38.84.

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

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors 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 yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.