Raymond James & Associates Sells 1,567 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,688 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,567 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Woodward were worth $1,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ WWD opened at $147.49 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.42 and a 1 year high of $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.55.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WWD. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 in the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward 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.