Gotham Asset Management LLC Buys 11,068 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 298.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,771 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,068 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Matson were worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Ethic Inc. increased its position in Matson by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Matson by 122.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 40,216 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,423,000 after purchasing an additional 22,164 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 256.5% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 104,518 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $14,093,000 after purchasing an additional 75,200 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth about $274,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth about $5,193,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,682 shares of company stock worth $1,550,551 in the last three months. 2.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MATX. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Matson from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.33.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock traded up $3.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $118.22. 503,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 339,836. The company's fifty day moving average is $112.90 and its 200-day moving average is $133.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.75 and a 52 week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.96%.

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.