T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 345,999 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 7,092 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.04% of Matson worth $46,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Matson in the 3rd quarter worth $3,641,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Matson by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $40,927,000 after acquiring an additional 26,366 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Matson by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its holdings in Matson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 13,546 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,827,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Matson by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,189 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % 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 1.0 %

Shares of MATX stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $110.22. 518,200 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 310,770. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $120.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.93. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.90 and a 52-week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $153.33.

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.