Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 21,999 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 762,021 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 21,999 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.29% of Matson worth $102,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $542,759,000 after purchasing an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Matson by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $146,562,000 after acquiring an additional 106,490 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Matson by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,049,772 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $141,551,000 after acquiring an additional 91,172 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Matson by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 323,124 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,570,000 after acquiring an additional 36,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter worth $35,016,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MATX. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE:MATX opened at $107.65 on Thursday. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $98.98 and a one year high of $169.12. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $132.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.69%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was 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 currently owned by corporate 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.