Hsbc Holdings PLC Lowers Position in Match Group Inc. $MTCH

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its Match Group stake by 66.9% in the second quarter, selling 128,136 shares and retaining 63,344 shares worth approximately $2.4 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 94.05% of Match Group, with several major funds—including BlackRock, State Street and Invesco—holding or increasing sizable positions.
• Match Group beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.70 versus the $0.65 consensus, but revenue fell 1.2% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $42.46 target price, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH - Free Report) by 66.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,344 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 128,136 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Match Group were worth $2,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTCH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Match Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,087,055,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Match Group by 14.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,275,943 shares of the technology company's stock worth $680,826,000 after buying an additional 2,461,025 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Match Group by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,483,815 shares of the technology company's stock worth $385,590,000 after acquiring an additional 162,330 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP increased its stake in Match Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 11,395,379 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $367,957,000 after purchasing an additional 325,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Match Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,799,389 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $316,422,000 after acquiring an additional 872,524 shares during the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen Bailey sold 4,760 shares of Match Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $496,216.92. The trade was a 28.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Philip D. Eigenmann sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $625,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 19,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $808,521.30. This represents a 43.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,291 shares of company stock worth $976,478 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Match Group Price Performance

Shares of MTCH opened at $42.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.02. Match Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.81 and a 12 month high of $43.47.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $857.77 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Match Group Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Match Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. Match Group's payout ratio is presently 28.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTCH. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Match Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Match Group in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Match Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Match Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Match Group from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Match Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.46.

Match Group Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.