6,803 Shares in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Purchased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,803 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Matson by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $542,759,000 after buying an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $146,562,000 after buying an additional 106,490 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 753,414 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $101,590,000 after buying an additional 58,027 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Matson by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 663,245 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $89,432,000 after purchasing an additional 117,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Matson by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 484,432 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $65,321,000 after purchasing an additional 61,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Matson Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE MATX traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $109.47. 268,307 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 364,769. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.75 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.28.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $818.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.96%.

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.