Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 14,412 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,029 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 14,412 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.06% of Woodward worth $5,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "reduce" rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $193.75.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock traded up $5.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.39. The stock had a trading volume of 264,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,122. 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 $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's fifty day moving average is $178.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.