M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,403 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 16,697 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Woodward were worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 6.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $850,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ WWD traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $245.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 744,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,575. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.05. The stock has a market cap of $14.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $255.69. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.09%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 position. 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 quarter. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $232.25.

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.