Raymond James & Associates Sells 1,567 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Raymond James & Associates cut its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,688 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,567 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Woodward were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WWD. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Woodward during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.22.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $147.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.36. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.42 and a 12 month high of $160.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.55.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.13 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 21.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. Corporate insiders own 1.12% 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.