Barclays PLC Sells 11,578 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Barclays PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,782 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 11,578 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.28% of Matson worth $12,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MATX. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 190.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 16,985 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,290,000 after buying an additional 11,141 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Matson by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,328,000. Finally, Capula Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MATX shares. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:MATX traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.42. 393,826 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 304,398. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.12. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $92.90 and a one year high of $169.12. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $122.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.48.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.69%.

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.