Analysts Set Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) PT at $37.68

Shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.63.

MTCH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. New Street Research lowered Match Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Match Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Match Group from a "strong-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 report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at $55,533.40. This represents a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Match Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Match Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,672,611 shares of the technology company's stock worth $668,732,000 after acquiring an additional 391,977 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 14,656,970 shares of the technology company's stock worth $479,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100,824 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,499,123 shares of the technology company's stock worth $343,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042,677 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 939,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Match Group by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,827,217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $190,608,000 after buying an additional 1,174,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company's stock.

Match Group Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ MTCH traded up $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.48. The stock had a trading volume of 3,745,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,958,400. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49. Match Group has a twelve month low of $26.39 and a twelve month high of $38.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.22.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Match Group will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.62%.

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.