Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 498 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,667,000. Senator Investment Group LP bought a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at about $22,355,000. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Woodward by 164.5% during the 1st quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. now owns 178,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,503,000 after purchasing an additional 110,799 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $13,055,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $199,326,000 after purchasing an additional 51,873 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.67.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $262.11 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $270.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $249.20 and a 200-day moving average of $236.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.