Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Position Increased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 71.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,322 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,768 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.07% of Woodward worth $7,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,862 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,936 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,687,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock traded up $2.18 on Wednesday, reaching $252.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 440,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,090. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $255.69. The company has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $224.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.83. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued 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 (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial set a $267.00 target price on Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 67,189 shares in the company, valued at $15,346,639.49. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock valued at $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.