Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,090 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Matson were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,927,000 after purchasing an additional 26,366 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Matson by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,707,000 after buying an additional 8,704 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Matson by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth $512,000. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth $258,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Matson news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock opened at $133.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.50 and a 12-month high of $169.12.

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

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MATX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

About Matson

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.