Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,458 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 382 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth $34,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.11.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $168.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.03 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The firm has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $164.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.94.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $853.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.