Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,508 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Matson by 339.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Matson Stock Performance

MATX opened at $127.04 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.50 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 9.69%.

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.