AlphaQuest LLC Cuts Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 82.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,863 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 8,483 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Matson were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MATX. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 4,167,726.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 958,600 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $136,716,000 after acquiring an additional 958,577 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $9,788,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,735,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,746,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,328,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Matson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded up $1.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $128.31. The stock had a trading volume of 243,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,262. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $138.45 and its 200 day moving average is $141.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.32% of the company's stock.

Matson Company 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.