Snyder Capital Management L P Cuts Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Snyder Capital Management L P cut its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 605,627 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 25,350 shares during the period. Woodward accounts for 2.1% of Snyder Capital Management L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Snyder Capital Management L P’s holdings in Woodward were worth $100,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,792,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,967,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 20,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 6,208 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth $549,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 2,346.8% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 37,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,308,000 after buying an additional 36,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on Woodward and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,008,109.72. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 3.9 %

WWD opened at $181.06 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $178.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

Woodward 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.