Match Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 16,338 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the average volume of 12,290 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MTCH. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BTIG Research cut shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Match Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.72.

Insider Transactions at Match Group

In other news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.61, for a total value of $25,319.61. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,900.78. The trade was a 6.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Match Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTCH. State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $668,732,000 after purchasing an additional 391,977 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in shares of Match Group in the third quarter worth $361,605,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Match Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,818,000 after buying an additional 939,078 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Match Group by 10.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,540,916 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $209,668,000 after buying an additional 524,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Match Group by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,486,837 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,344,000 after acquiring an additional 683,132 shares during the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Match Group Trading Down 7.9 %

Shares of Match Group stock opened at $33.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.67. Match Group has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $38.84.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.22). Match Group had a negative return on equity of 721.15% and a net margin of 17.86%. Analysts predict that Match Group will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Match Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.93%.

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.