Bank of Montreal Can Lowers Stock Position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH - Free Report) by 98.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,729 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 686,031 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Match Group were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Match Group by 716.8% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,254,933 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $171,889,000 after acquiring an additional 4,611,598 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Match Group during the fourth quarter worth about $112,176,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,624,212 shares of the technology company's stock worth $183,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952,470 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position 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 valued at $62,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings 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 worth $62,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Match Group from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Match Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lowered Match Group from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on Match Group from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Match Group from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Match Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.58.

Match Group Stock Performance

Match Group stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,734,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,945,981. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49. Match Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.39 and a 1-year high of $38.84. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $30.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.65.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 574.22% and a net margin of 15.84%. Analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total transaction of $7,958,987.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,533.40. This represents a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.