Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII - Free Report) by 95.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,182 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 95,565 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Huntington Ingalls Industries were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,029,322 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $950,391,000 after buying an additional 14,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048,482 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $197,677,000 after purchasing an additional 29,670 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 831,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $157,216,000 after purchasing an additional 204,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 578,488 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $109,316,000 after purchasing an additional 77,718 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 75,182.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 492,349 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,004,590,000 after purchasing an additional 491,695 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Edmond E. Jr. Hughes sold 1,300 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.91, for a total value of $301,483.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,221,929.71. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anastasi D. Kelly sold 1,960 shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.58, for a total value of $455,856.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,066,661.30. The trade was a 10.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,225 shares of company stock valued at $1,207,207 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Trading Up 0.8%

Huntington Ingalls Industries stock traded up $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $252.22. 304,186 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 558,515. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.88 and a 52-week high of $285.81. The company has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $231.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.69.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The aerospace company reported $3.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.89. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 4.76%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 13.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $236.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised Huntington Ingalls Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.38.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.