Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,115 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 11,075 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.16% of Woodward worth $15,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,040,384 shares of the technology company's stock worth $173,141,000 after acquiring an additional 48,195 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $120,220,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 649,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $108,166,000 after purchasing an additional 36,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company's stock worth $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $3.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $193.63. 113,980 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 464,794. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $178.24 and its 200-day moving average is $177.82.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

About Woodward

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.