New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 1,800 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,084 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Woodward worth $11,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $221,133,000 after purchasing an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,220,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44,162.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company's stock worth $86,187,000 after acquiring an additional 471,217 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the 4th 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. acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $31,187,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $252.51 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $219.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.55. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $253.26. The firm has a market cap of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group increased 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total value of $565,582.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,739 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,998.15. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,250 shares of company stock worth $9,035,789 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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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