Legal & General Group Plc Sells 5,736 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,976 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,736 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.19% of Woodward worth $19,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Woodward by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,040,384 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $173,141,000 after purchasing an additional 48,195 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $120,220,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 649,961 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,166,000 after purchasing an additional 36,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,872,000 after buying an additional 3,099 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Stock Down 0.2 %

WWD traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.17. The company had a trading volume of 429,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,309. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $179.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.91. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. 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 (DPR) is 18.76%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total transaction of $1,864,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,886,305.73. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $193.75.

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.