Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Makes New $733,000 Investment in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,017 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $733,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Woodward by 191.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 2,314.3% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $9,035,789 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $3.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $252.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 296,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $253.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $220.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research 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 objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Woodward 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.