Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 175,205 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Cooke & Bieler LP reduced its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,355,330 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 175,205 shares during the period. Woodward accounts for 2.2% of Cooke & Bieler LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 2.29% of Woodward worth $225,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WWD. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WWD. UBS Group raised their price objective 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 upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.38.

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Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $179.57. The stock had a trading volume of 252,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 454,780. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.82. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.29 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.