Park Avenue Securities LLC Cuts Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 35.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,442 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,857 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 2,314.3% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WWD. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 64,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total value of $2,310,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,050 shares of company stock valued at $13,267,077 in the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward Trading Up 0.7%

WWD traded up $1.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $236.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 459,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,544. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $238.54. The stock has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $201.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.26. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.09%.

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.