Palisade Capital Management LP Has $28.90 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Palisade Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,348 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,792 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP owned about 0.27% of Woodward worth $28,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 16,768 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Woodward by 11.0% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,739 shares of the technology company's stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter valued at $733,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $267.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD traded up $3.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $252.51. 296,102 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 482,536. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $219.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $253.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total transaction of $1,142,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 67,189 shares in the company, valued at $15,346,639.49. The trade was a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $9,035,789. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.