Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH)

Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 35,383 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 166% compared to the average daily volume of 13,312 call options.

Institutional Trading of Match Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTCH. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Match Group by 4,348.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 79,935 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,918,000 after buying an additional 78,138 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Match Group during the fourth quarter valued at $599,000. abrdn plc boosted its position in Match Group by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 133,690 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,880,000 after purchasing an additional 46,262 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Match Group during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in Match Group by 141.7% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 8,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTCH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna cut their price target on Match Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Match Group from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on Match Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on Match Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Match Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $43.20 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Match Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Match Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ MTCH traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,734,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,642,826. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.22. Match Group has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $47.81.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. The business had revenue of $864.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $856.51 million. Match Group had a negative return on equity of 467.66% and a net margin of 18.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Match Group will post 1.98 EPS for the current 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.