Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $10.65 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,992 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,233 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Woodward worth $10,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,700 shares of company stock worth $5,751,700 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 1.8%

WWD opened at $213.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.11. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $213.71. The company has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. The company had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.00.

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.