New York Life Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,941 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,161 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Match Group were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTCH. Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in shares of Match Group in the third quarter worth about $361,605,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 2,732.1% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,659,718 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,804,000 after buying an additional 1,601,115 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 3,325.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,122,906 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,730,000 after buying an additional 1,090,127 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted 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 worth $211,818,000 after buying an additional 939,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Match Group by 56.8% in 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 in the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MTCH shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Match Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Match Group from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Match Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Match Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.68.

Match Group Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $30.19 on Tuesday. Match Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $38.84. The stock has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.32 and its 200 day moving average is $34.48.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Match Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.62%.

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.