Capital Research Global Investors Cuts Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Capital Research Global Investors lowered its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 59.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,661,440 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,406,088 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Woodward were worth $276,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,187,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 313.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $20,045,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on Woodward and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.75.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $169.17 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $179.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.95. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.