Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) by 24.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 410,938 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,855 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Match Group were worth $14,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTCH. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Match Group by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 85,777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,131,000 after buying an additional 30,229 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Match Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,903,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Match Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,503,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Match Group during the first quarter worth approximately $2,410,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Match Group by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,262,946 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,072,000 after purchasing an additional 217,760 shares during the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MTCH shares. Raymond James initiated coverage on Match Group in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Match Group from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Match Group in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Match Group from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Match Group from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Match Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.79.

Match Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MTCH opened at $33.33 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.44. Match Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $49.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.49.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. Match Group had a net margin of 19.03% and a negative return on equity of 433.59%. The firm had revenue of $860.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Match Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Match Group, Inc. will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.