BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $5.63 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,815 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.06% of Woodward worth $5,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $195.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded up $3.74 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $213.53. 440,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,689. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $183.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.11. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $213.71.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. Woodward's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

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.