Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 420 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,580 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $294,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,137,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,687,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total transaction of $1,142,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 67,189 shares in the company, valued at $15,346,639.49. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 49,827 shares in the company, valued at $11,958,480. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $9,035,789. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD stock opened at $252.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $220.89 and its 200-day moving average is $194.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.98 and a 1 year high of $253.26.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $267.00 target price on Woodward and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

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.