Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 151,365 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,951,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.06% of Match Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTCH. Starboard Value LP bought a new stake in Match Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $361,605,000. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 510.3% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 65,086 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 54,422 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Match Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,789,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Match Group by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,510 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 28,884 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Match Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company's stock worth $211,818,000 after buying an additional 939,078 shares during the period. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Match Group from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Match Group from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Match Group in a report on Monday, December 9th. BTIG Research cut Match Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Match Group from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.68.

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Match Group Price Performance

Match Group stock traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,202,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,854,953. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.83. Match Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $38.84. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group's dividend payout ratio is 37.62%.

Match Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Match Group news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total value of $7,958,987.74. Following the sale, the president now owns 1,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,533.40. This trade represents a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.