HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,063 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the second quarter worth $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 101.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $175.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $171.38 and a 200-day moving average of $170.80. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.12 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price objective (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.