Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,917 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,408 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Match Group were worth $1,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Match Group by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,947,000 after buying an additional 28,884 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Match Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $211,818,000 after acquiring an additional 939,078 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Match Group by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,733,000 after acquiring an additional 866,026 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. boosted its position in Match Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 478,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,665,000 after acquiring an additional 8,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Match Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,667,907 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,267,000 after acquiring an additional 69,947 shares in the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of MTCH opened at $28.65 on Thursday. Match Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.39 and a 52-week high of $38.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.22). Match Group had a net margin of 15.84% and a negative return on equity of 574.22%. On average, research analysts forecast that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTCH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC downgraded Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Match Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Match Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Match Group news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total transaction of $7,958,987.74. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.