Fmr LLC Sells 49,184 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Fmr LLC cut its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 960,743 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 49,184 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned approximately 1.61% of Woodward worth $164,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after acquiring an additional 6,917 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 114.4% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 9,092 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 93,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,274,000 after buying an additional 13,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Associated Banc Corp raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 66,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,407,000 after buying an additional 3,836 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WWD. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 47,913 shares of company stock worth $8,502,604 over the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ WWD opened at $181.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.12 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.98.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

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.