Jones Financial Companies Lllp Decreases Stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lowered its stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 41.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,142 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Match Group were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Match Group in the third quarter worth $31,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Match Group in the third quarter worth $57,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 126.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 420.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,652 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,071 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. New Street Research lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Match Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.68.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of MTCH stock opened at $31.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.09. Match Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $38.84.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 574.22% and a net margin of 15.84%. On average, research analysts forecast that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.62%.

Match Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Match Group

In other Match Group news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,533.40. This represents a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Match Group 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.