Bryce Point Capital LLC Lowers Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Key Points

• Bryce Point Capital LLC reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 61.3%, selling 5,404 shares, and now holds 3,412 shares valued at approximately $642,000.
• Multiple analysts have recently raised their price targets for Woodward, with UBS Group setting a new target of $220.00 and Goldman Sachs increasing theirs to $255.00, both maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Woodward has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, set to be paid on September 4th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.44%.

Bryce Point Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 61.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,412 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,404 shares during the quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Woodward by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,298 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $567,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 505 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 33.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total value of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total value of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,739 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,998.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $242.13.

Woodward Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $4.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $266.32. 345,488 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 521,877. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $238.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.47. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $267.45. 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 company has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

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.