Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC Invests $417,000 in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC bought a new position in 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 bought 2,286 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $120,220,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 44,162.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,187,000 after buying an additional 471,217 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,187,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.38, for a total value of $1,071,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 72,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,623,585.64. This trade represents a 6.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,958,480. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $9,035,789. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $243.41. 306,322 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 476,470. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $210.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $244.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Woodward's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.