AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $23.99 Million Position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH - Free Report) by 149.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 733,536 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 439,432 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.29% of Match Group worth $23,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Match Group in the third quarter valued at about $361,605,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in 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 valued at $62,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,115 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Match Group by 3,325.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,122,906 shares of the technology company's stock worth $36,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,127 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Match Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $211,818,000 after buying an additional 939,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Match Group by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $78,733,000 after acquiring an additional 866,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Match Group news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.61, for a total value of $25,319.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,398 shares in the company, valued at $391,900.78. This represents a 6.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MTCH. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Match Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Match Group from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, New Street Research lowered shares of Match Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.68.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of MTCH stock traded down $0.76 on Wednesday, reaching $34.47. 5,878,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,523,718. Match Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $38.84. The company has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.63.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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, equities 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 initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in 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 a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group's payout ratio is currently 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.