Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $2.65 Million Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,459 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 509 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WWD. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.22.

Woodward Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $147.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $91.42 and a one year high of $160.79. The company has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 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 the consensus estimate of $750.13 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 21.10%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. Company insiders own 1.12% 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.