187,399 Shares in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 187,399 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $31,187,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.32% of Woodward as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT bought a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $20,045,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 458,886 shares of the technology company's stock worth $76,368,000 after buying an additional 100,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 185,092 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,803,000 after acquiring an additional 57,284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.75.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $2.59 on Tuesday, hitting $167.81. The company had a trading volume of 412,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,887. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.94. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $201.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 in the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.