South Dakota Investment Council Has $799,000 Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,377 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,089 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Woodward were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,053 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD traded down $2.86 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.29. 421,013 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 493,039. The stock has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.80, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $232.95 and a 200 day moving average of $200.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $259.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $232.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total value of $1,142,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 67,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,346,639.49. This trade represents a 6.93% 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. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Company 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.