Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $15.91 Million Stock Holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 486,316 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,611 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Match Group were worth $15,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Match Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,672,611 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $668,732,000 after buying an additional 391,977 shares during the last quarter. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Match Group during the third quarter worth $361,605,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $211,818,000 after buying an additional 939,078 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Match Group by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,390,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,733,000 after buying an additional 866,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MTCH shares. New Street Research downgraded shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Match Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Match Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Match Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.68.

Insider Activity at Match Group

In related 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 transaction of $25,319.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,900.78. The trade was a 6.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 corporate insiders.

Match Group Stock Up 0.2 %

MTCH opened at $34.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.68. Match Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $38.84.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last posted its 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 negative return on equity of 574.22% and a net margin of 15.84%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Match Group’s payout ratio is 37.62%.

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

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.