Royce & Associates LP Lowers Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 40.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,470 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 89,057 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.22% of Woodward worth $22,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $219,321,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Woodward Trading Down 0.3 %

WWD traded down $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $186.59. 480,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 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.