Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 1,003.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,582 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Match Group were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Match Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,358,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,173,966,000 after buying an additional 416,140 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Match Group by 88.5% in the second 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. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 4,080,312 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $148,034,000 after purchasing an additional 943,894 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Match Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $100,848,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Match Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,545,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,342,000 after buying an additional 12,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MTCH. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Match Group from $33.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Match Group from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Match Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Match Group from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Match Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.78.

Match Group Price Performance

Shares of MTCH opened at $36.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.81. Match Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $42.42.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. The firm had revenue of $864.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $856.51 million. Match Group had a negative return on equity of 467.66% and a net margin of 18.72%. Match Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.