First Western Trust Bank Sells 2,086 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Key Points

• First Western Trust Bank decreased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. by 3.0%, now owning 67,937 shares valued at around $12.4 million, making it the 11th largest position in their portfolio.
• Several large investors, including MassMutual Private Wealth and Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, significantly increased their stakes in Woodward, with boosts of over 190% in some cases.
• Woodward reported a quarterly earnings performance of $1.76 EPS, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 scheduled for payment on September 4th.

First Western Trust Bank lessened its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,937 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,086 shares during the quarter. Woodward comprises 0.6% of First Western Trust Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. First Western Trust Bank owned about 0.11% of Woodward worth $12,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $294,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Woodward by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Woodward by 13.3% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Woodward during the first quarter valued at $733,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 142.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the technology company's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Up 0.1%

WWD stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $248.70. 503,024 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,245. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $247.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.25. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.30. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year high of $267.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. 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 research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.63.

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 on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,296 shares of company stock worth $8,711,033 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.