Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires New Position in Match Group Inc. $MTCH

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 290,300 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,046,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTCH. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Match Group by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 15,463 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Match Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,327 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC boosted its holdings in Match Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 52,928 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Match Group by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,307 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Match Group by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,028 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MTCH shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Match Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Match Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Match Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Match Group from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Match Group in a report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Match Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Match Group

In other Match Group news, CAO Philip D. Eigenmann sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $625,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 19,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $808,521.30. The trade was a 43.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Bailey sold 4,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.26, for a total value of $201,157.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,216.92. This trade represents a 28.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Match Group Price Performance

Shares of MTCH opened at $41.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.30. Match Group Inc. has a one year low of $28.81 and a one year high of $42.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.27.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $857.77 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Match Group Inc. will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. Match Group’s payout ratio is 28.27%.

About Match Group

Match Group, Inc (NASDAQ: MTCH) is a leading provider of online dating products and services. The company owns and operates a diverse portfolio of consumer brands that connect singles through digital platforms. Its flagship offerings include Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid and PlentyOfFish, which together serve users looking for long-term relationships, casual encounters and social networking opportunities.

Originating with the launch of Match.com in 1995, Match Group has grown through a combination of organic development and strategic acquisitions.