Empirical Finance LLC Sells 16,305 Shares of Match Group Inc. $MTCH

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,844 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,305 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Match Group were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MTCH. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Match Group during the third quarter worth $28,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Match Group by 91.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 903 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Match Group by 1,319.4% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Match Group by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,028 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in Match Group during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MTCH shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Match Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Match Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Match Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Match Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Match Group in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.46.

Match Group Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $41.82 on Friday. Match Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $43.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Match Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Match Group

In other news, CAO Philip D. Eigenmann sold 15,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $808,521.30. This represents a 43.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Bailey sold 4,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.26, for a total transaction of $201,157.60. Following the sale, the director owned 11,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,216.92. The trade was a 28.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,291 shares of company stock worth $976,478. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

About Match Group

Match Group, Inc is a provider of online dating and social discovery services. The company operates a portfolio of dating platforms designed to help people form connections, including Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, Meetic, OurTime, BLK and Chispa. Its services are offered through websites and mobile applications, with features that may include profile discovery, messaging, matching, subscriptions and other paid enhancements.

Match Group serves users in markets around the world, with brands tailored to different audiences, relationship goals, age groups and geographic regions.