M&T Bank Corp Purchases 772 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,560 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 772 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,975 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Woodward by 9.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 316,467 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,119 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth $460,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $501,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.13.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $176.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average is $151.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $105.18 and a fifty-two week high of $177.58.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Woodward Company 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.