EULAV Asset Management Raises Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 15.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,600 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,600 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management owned about 0.18% of Woodward worth $19,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,223 shares of the technology company's stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Argentarii LLC grew its position in Woodward by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 3,046 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Woodward by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 40,322 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,358,000 after acquiring an additional 16,768 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,153,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Woodward by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,739 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. This trade 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 42,096 shares of company stock valued at $9,247,289 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $2.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,146. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.56, a PEG ratio of 2.96 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $222.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.06. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $255.83.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million for 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 firm's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial set a $267.00 price target on Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

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.