Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Stock Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,268 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 3,141 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Matson were worth $9,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Matson by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Matson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,170 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction 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 $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Matson Trading Down 5.4 %

NYSE MATX opened at $102.02 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day moving average of $139.50. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.98 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MATX shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens boosted their price target on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

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.