Associated Banc Corp Lowers Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Associated Banc Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,674 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,836 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp owned about 0.11% of Woodward worth $10,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Woodward by 4.9% during the 3rd 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $99,000,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of 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 price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ WWD traded up $2.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $187.10. 589,685 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,805. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.36. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

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 (EPS) 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 business earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.