Savant Capital LLC Has $12.06 Million Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,460 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,637 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC owned about 0.12% of Woodward worth $12,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WWD. Truist Financial increased their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Down 2.2 %

Woodward stock traded down $4.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $186.53. The stock had a trading volume of 478,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,883. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $136.25 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $180.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,066,684.94. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.