Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,509 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,151 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.41% of Woodward worth $44,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 3.6% in the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the technology company's stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management grew its stake in Woodward by 15.7% in the first quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 107,600 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $19,636,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 2.5% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,223 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Argentarii LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 105.4% in the first quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Woodward by 71.2% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 40,322 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,358,000 after acquiring an additional 16,768 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total transaction of $1,142,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 67,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,346,639.49. This represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $249.85 on Wednesday. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $255.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $223.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.44.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $267.00 price target on Woodward and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

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.

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