First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH - Free Report) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 466,347 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 171,286 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.19% of Match Group worth $15,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Match Group by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,510 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,947,000 after buying an additional 28,884 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Match Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $211,818,000 after acquiring an additional 939,078 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Match Group by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company's stock worth $78,733,000 after acquiring an additional 866,026 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. lifted its stake in Match Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 478,913 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,665,000 after acquiring an additional 8,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Match Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,667,907 shares of the technology company's stock worth $87,267,000 after acquiring an additional 69,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.05% of the company's stock.

Match Group Price Performance

Match Group stock opened at $30.07 on Monday. The stock 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.62. Match Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.39 and a 12 month high of $38.84.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 574.22% and a net margin of 15.84%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the president now owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at $55,533.40. The trade was a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTCH has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Match Group from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. HSBC lowered shares of Match Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Match Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.58.

About Match Group

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.

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