Vest Financial LLC Buys New Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,289 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,338,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 20.8% during the 4th 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. Summit Financial LLC lifted 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 valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.2% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,850 shares of the technology company's stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total value of $565,582.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 64,739 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,998.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,050 shares of company stock worth $13,267,077 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.75.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD stock traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $234.61. The company had a trading volume of 346,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,288. The company has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.69. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $236.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. Woodward's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.