New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $13.76 Million Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,690 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.14% of Woodward worth $13,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.99, for a total transaction of $1,799,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,864.89. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their target price 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 upped their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $184.59. 351,578 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 454,739. The business's 50-day moving average price is $182.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.21. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $136.25 and a 12 month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Woodward 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.