Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 320 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,421 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $4,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ WWD opened at $158.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.03 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.20.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.11.

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.