AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases 407,160 Shares of Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM - Free Report) by 43.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,337,693 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 407,160 shares during the quarter. Howmet Aerospace accounts for about 1.0% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.33% of Howmet Aerospace worth $173,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Howmet Aerospace by 208.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 228 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Howmet Aerospace in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Howmet Aerospace during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Howmet Aerospace by 114.6% in the first quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HWM shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Howmet Aerospace from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Howmet Aerospace from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.44.

Howmet Aerospace Price Performance

Shares of Howmet Aerospace stock traded up $1.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.69. 2,265,086 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,794,603. Howmet Aerospace Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $191.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $76.98 billion, a PE ratio of 62.11, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $173.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.07.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.09. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 27.25%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Howmet Aerospace

In related news, CEO John C. Plant sold 800,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.96, for a total transaction of $125,568,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 236,544 shares in the company, valued at $37,127,946.24. This trade represents a 77.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 30,000 shares of Howmet Aerospace stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $4,755,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,903,607.27. This represents a 18.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 831,250 shares of company stock worth $130,517,863 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Howmet Aerospace Profile

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.

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