California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,779 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 31,475 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Match Group were worth $13,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $668,732,000 after purchasing an additional 391,977 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Match Group by 17.0% in 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Match Group by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,624,212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $183,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952,470 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Match Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,176,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Match Group by 2.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MTCH shares. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Match Group from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Match Group from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Match Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Match Group news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the 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 sale, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,533.40. This represents a 99.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Match Group Stock Down 4.8 %

MTCH stock opened at $28.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.61. Match Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $38.84. The company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.62%.

Match Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.