Technology companies have been the talk of the digital town for some time now, and one such company is Match Group, Inc. whose stock has recently been acquired by Oak Thistle LLC. According to the company’s latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Oak Thistle LLC has purchased a new position in shares of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) in the fourth quarter. This acquisition proves to be a wise move by Oak Thistle LLC as Match Group, Inc is a leader in providing dating products such as Tinder, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Pairs, PlentyOfFish, and OurTime.
Based in Dallas, TX., Match Group was founded on February 12th, 2009 and has quickly become one of the most popular online dating platforms worldwide. The acquisition of 5,470 shares of MTCH’s stock valued at approximately $227k by Oak Thistle LLC indicates that it recognizes Match Group’s potential and growth prospects.
Furthermore, an insider in MTCH Jared F. Sine sold over 7k shares of his stake in the company at an average price of $41.27 on March 2nd this year; these sales were disclosed officially through SEC filings available on their website. Following this sale transaction details indicate that Mr. Sine currently owns directly about 60k shares priced around $2.49m.
In conclusion we can see that there exist strong justifications supporting investment in MTCH stocks today due to various positive developments within internal management structure and improving financial performance consistently over the years. Thus leading technological companies like MTCH ends up becoming a prospective asset for future investing to those who want to benefit from this particular trend which presents itself as a high-growth area for investors’ portfolios and stimulates progress within tech waves affecting digital transformations around various industries worldwide in contemporary times.
Institutional Investors Increase Holdings, but Analysts Downgrade: Examining Match Group’s Future Amidst Growing Competition in the Dating Market
Match Group: Institutional Investors Increase Holdings but Analysts Downgrade Rating
Match Group, Inc., a technology company that provides dating products under various brands including Tinder, Match, and OkCupid, has been the subject of increased attention by institutional investors modifying their holdings. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings by 18.5% during Q3 which now amounts to $878,335,000 after it purchased 2,868,749 shares in the last quarter. Similarly, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased holdings for Q4 by 280.2%, now owning $149,062,000 worth of stocks after purchasing 2,647,743 shares. Flossbach Von Storch AG acquired approximately 1.5 million more shares bringing their total to $335,816,000 worth of MTCH stock while Neuberger Berman Group LLC and Point72 Asset Management L.P. each increased their shares considerably as well.
In contrast to these significant investments from institutional investors however; leading analyst rating agencies have recently downgraded the stock price of Match Group. Oppenheimer lowered Match Group’s performance rating from “outperform” to “market perform”. Citigroup cut its target price down from $54 to $40 and gave it a “neutral” rating while TD Cowen slashed its own target price down from $74 to $70 but maintained an “outperform” rating for the company.
According to eight other analysts Match Group is rated as a hold while eighteen analysts had given it a buy rating making an average “Moderate Buy” rating with a report consensus price target of $70.38.
Match Group started trading on Friday at an opening share price of $34.99 which was lower than analysts’ estimates closing at around a market cap of $9.77 billion and PE ratio of 28.45 raising growing concerns about the company’s future prospects especially amidst intensifying competition in the dating market. The company fell lower than consensus estimates in Q4 2020 results, reporting net margins of 11.35% and a negative return on equity of 146.76% compared to previous year results, leading analysts to predict Match Group will report $2.08 earnings per share this year.
Match Group’s recent journey is clear evidence that having major institutional investors’ backing does not necessarily lead to an escalation in stock prices as it can be a case of weighing multiple factors such as growing competition in the online dating industry with regards to the loyalty its products enjoy from its consumers. Despite tough challenges ahead, Match Group needs to maintain a balance on not just investor’s portfolios but also making itself a viable option for consumers during and post-pandemic scenarios while retaining confidence from other investment banks globally concerning their reliability deserving good ratings towards MTCH’s stocks for future investors who expect them to yield positive returns thus driving further growth for the platform going forward.
