Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Position Boosted by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,363 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.24% of Woodward worth $23,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 26.5% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,825 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the second quarter worth approximately $1,597,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $1,385,803.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,015,921.43. The trade was a 40.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,313 shares of company stock worth $9,007,072. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $194.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $179.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.82 and a 12-month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

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.