Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC Invests $670,000 in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,472 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in Match Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $361,605,000. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 301.7% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 48,200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,824,000 after buying an additional 36,200 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in Match Group by 510.3% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 65,086 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after buying an additional 54,422 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Match Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,170,000. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Match Group by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 643,335 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,344,000 after acquiring an additional 267,890 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTCH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. New Street Research lowered Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.68.

Match Group Price Performance

Shares of Match Group stock opened at $32.03 on Tuesday. Match Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $38.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.17 and its 200 day moving average is $34.31. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (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, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.62%.

Match Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total value of $7,958,987.74. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at $55,533.40. The trade was a 99.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Match Group Company 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.