BTIG Research Downgrades Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) to Neutral

BTIG Research lowered shares of Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MTCH. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Match Group from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Match Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Match Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.72.

Match Group Price Performance

MTCH opened at $32.72 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.39. Match Group has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $39.91. The company has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.45.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Match Group’s payout ratio is 33.93%.

Match Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Match Group

In related news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.61, for a total transaction of $25,319.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,900.78. This trade represents a 6.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Match Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTCH. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Match Group by 2.3% in the third 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 during the period. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in shares of Match Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $361,605,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Match Group by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,263,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $190,279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940,667 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Match Group by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,540,916 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $209,668,000 after purchasing an additional 524,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Match Group by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,733,000 after buying an additional 866,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

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.