Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.68% of Woodward worth $170,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 in the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Trading Down 1.0 %

WWD stock traded down $1.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.42. 285,928 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 429,250. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.87 and a 200-day moving average of $169.63. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.12 and a 52-week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $187.44.

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.