Legato Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 63,280 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,070,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Match Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 10,647 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Match Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 25,952 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Match Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 29,955 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Match Group by 617.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Global Investors LLP boosted its stake in shares of Match Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. River Global Investors LLP now owns 82,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Match Group

In other Match Group news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 801 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.61, for a total value of $25,319.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,900.78. The trade was a 6.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Match Group Price Performance

MTCH stock opened at $33.93 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. Match Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $38.84.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 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%. Research analysts expect that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Match Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Match Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given 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 2.24%. Match Group’s payout ratio is 37.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MTCH shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Match Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial decreased 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Match Group from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Match Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Match Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.68.

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.