Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 312,716 Shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 65.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,428 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 312,716 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Match Group were worth $5,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Match Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,475,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,818,000 after purchasing an additional 939,078 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Match Group by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,624,212 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $183,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952,470 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Match Group by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 5,467,257 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $178,834,000 after buying an additional 541,556 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Match Group by 716.8% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,254,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $171,889,000 after buying an additional 4,611,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Match Group in the 4th quarter worth about $112,176,000. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTCH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Match Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Match Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded Match Group from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, New Street Research lowered Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.63.

Match Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MTCH opened at $28.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.49. Match Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.39 and a 1 year high of $38.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.12.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its quarterly 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, research analysts expect that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Match Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Match Group news, President Gary Swidler sold 242,209 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total value of $7,958,987.74. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 1,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,533.40. The trade was a 99.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Match Group 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.