Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,735 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.19% of Woodward worth $216,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at $31,187,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,045,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Woodward by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $172.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $193.25.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded down $9.53 on Thursday, reaching $165.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 81,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,350. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.45 and a 1 year high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $182.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

About Woodward

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.