Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $37.00 price target on the technology company's stock, down from their prior price target of $53.00. Morgan Stanley's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.84% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com downgraded Match Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Match Group from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Match Group from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Match Group in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Match Group from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Match Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.95.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of Match Group stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $32.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,830,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,856,876. Match Group has a twelve month low of $27.85 and a twelve month high of $49.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.06 and a 200-day moving average of $34.85. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.41.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $866.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $861.31 million. Match Group had a negative return on equity of 313.95% and a net margin of 19.36%. Match Group's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Match Group will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Match Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Match Group by 73.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Match Group by 3.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $91,374,000 after acquiring an additional 26,902 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its stake in Match Group by 4.0% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 90,746 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,868,000 after buying an additional 3,455 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Match Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Match Group by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,160,856 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,170,951,000 after buying an additional 500,418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company's stock.

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.