Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Acquired by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,196 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.25% of Woodward worth $20,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $710,923,000 after acquiring an additional 59,884 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,061,000 after acquiring an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 12.0% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,377,000 after purchasing an additional 40,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.22.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $151.07 on Tuesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.60 and a 1 year high of $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.10%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.