Truist Financial Corp Purchases 5,080 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 262.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,018 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,080 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Woodward were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 4.9% in the third 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. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% in 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. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,000,000. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP raised its position in shares of Woodward by 26.0% in the third quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,383,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of WWD traded down $4.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $180.01. The stock had a trading volume of 229,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,646. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.97. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $143.03 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Barclays upped their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $197.38.

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.