Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MTCH. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Match Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Match Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Match Group from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Match Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Match Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.46.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of MTCH stock opened at $40.86 on Monday. Match Group has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $44.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.38.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Match Group had a negative return on equity of 324.82% and a net margin of 20.17%.The company had revenue of $853.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $857.77 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Match Group will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. Match Group’s payout ratio is presently 28.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Match Group

In other news, CAO Philip D. Eigenmann sold 15,000 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $625,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 19,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $808,521.30. The trade was a 43.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ann Mcdaniel sold 3,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.43, for a total transaction of $149,820.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,839 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,778.77. The trade was a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,291 shares of company stock valued at $976,478 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Match Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Match Group by 173.1% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Match Group in the third quarter valued at $31,000. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Match Group by 9.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 17,575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Match Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $279,000. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Match Group

Match Group, Inc is a global provider of online dating and social discovery services. The company operates a portfolio of dating platforms designed to help users form romantic, social and relationship-oriented connections across a range of demographics, interests and relationship goals.

Its brands include Tinder, Hinge, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, OurTime, BLK, Chispa and The League. These services are available through mobile applications and websites and generally offer features such as user profiles, matching, messaging, discovery tools and subscription or other paid enhancements.

Match Group traces its origins to Match.com and was established as a standalone public company after being spun off from IAC in 2020.