Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stake Boosted by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 60.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,554 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 8,873 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Woodward were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Woodward by 4.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during 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. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,790 shares of the technology company's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,886,305.73. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, 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 quarter, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Down 2.5 %

WWD traded down $4.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.29. 381,898 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 462,361. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.45 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $186.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.61.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Woodward Company 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.