Vanguard Group Inc. Has $542.76 Million Stock Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 11,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.12% of Matson worth $542,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Matson by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,170 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Matson by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE MATX opened at $128.16 on Tuesday. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.50 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is 9.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.