Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $18.88 Million Stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 577,211 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,132 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Match Group were worth $18,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTCH. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Match Group in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Match Group in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Match Group by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,035 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Match Group by 420.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Match Group by 126.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Match Group from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Match Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Match Group in a report on Thursday, December 12th. New Street Research cut shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.68.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $31.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.45. Match Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $38.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.83.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.62%.

Match Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,533.40. This trade represents a 99.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.