Match Group’s (MTCH) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Match Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Match Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.06.

Match Group Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MTCH opened at $31.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.47. Match Group has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $42.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.16.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th.

Match Group declared that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Match Group

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Match Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,672,611 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $668,732,000 after purchasing an additional 391,977 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in shares of Match Group during the third quarter valued at about $361,605,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $190,279,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940,667 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Match Group by 10.4% in the third 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, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Match Group by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 12,379 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

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.