First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 94,115 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,075 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Woodward were worth $15,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,187,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Woodward by 313.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 174,476 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,037,000 after acquiring an additional 132,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,045,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.75.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $181.87 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $178.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.40. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,305.73. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.