Brown Advisory Inc. Has $44.62 Million Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 244,509 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,151 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Woodward worth $44,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Woodward by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Woodward by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Woodward by 6.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its position in Woodward by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the technology company's stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289 in the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock traded up $2.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $252.03. 440,770 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,224. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $255.69. The business's 50-day moving average is $223.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.44.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. Woodward's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 18.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.

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.