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

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,115 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,075 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.16% of Woodward worth $15,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 51.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,236,000 after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,547,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Woodward by 11.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Woodward by 135.1% during 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Woodward by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $181.87 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $178.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.