Swiss National Bank Has $19.52 Million Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,300 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of Woodward worth $19,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $185.39. 1,487,297 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 449,097. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $185.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89.

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 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 business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.