Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 476,790 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 21,127 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.80% of Woodward worth $79,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at about $120,220,000. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,187,000. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $20,045,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $197.38.

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Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:WWD traded up $4.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $191.32. 103,253 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,393. The firm has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.05. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.45 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Woodward Profile

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.