Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) Price Target Raised to $32.00 at Morgan Stanley

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

MTCH has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Match Group in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Match Group from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.72.

Match Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $31.17 on Monday. Match Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $39.91. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.40.

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

Match Group Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. Match Group’s payout ratio is 33.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Match Group news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.61, for a total transaction of $25,319.61. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,900.78. This represents a 6.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Match Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Match Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,672,611 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $668,732,000 after acquiring an additional 391,977 shares during the last quarter. Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in shares of Match Group in the third quarter valued at about $361,605,000. 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. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,540,916 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $209,668,000 after purchasing an additional 524,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Match Group by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,733,000 after purchasing an additional 866,026 shares during the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.