Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Curtiss-Wright Co. (NYSE:CW)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright Co. (NYSE:CW - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,220 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of Curtiss-Wright worth $8,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,634,028 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,289,608,000 after buying an additional 15,890 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,417,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $503,009,000 after buying an additional 84,635 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 766,413 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $271,977,000 after buying an additional 107,115 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Curtiss-Wright by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 743,934 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $264,071,000 after buying an additional 12,086 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 592,326 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $210,199,000 after purchasing an additional 6,971 shares in the last quarter. 82.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $357.00 to $338.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Curtiss-Wright from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $450.00 to $424.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $331.00 to $309.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $377.43.

Curtiss-Wright Stock Performance

Curtiss-Wright stock traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $410.05. 214,042 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,866. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Curtiss-Wright Co. has a fifty-two week low of $258.85 and a fifty-two week high of $410.35. The company has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average is $335.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.01.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.43. Curtiss-Wright had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.11%. The business had revenue of $805.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. Curtiss-Wright's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Curtiss-Wright Co. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Curtiss-Wright Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Curtiss-Wright's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Curtiss-Wright's dividend payout ratio is 8.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO K Christopher Farkas sold 4,780 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,673,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,238,550. This represents a 34.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul J. Ferdenzi sold 658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.68, for a total transaction of $214,297.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,239 shares in the company, valued at $6,265,757.52. This trade represents a 3.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,642 shares of company stock valued at $3,581,107 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

About Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered products, solutions, and services mainly to aerospace and defense, commercial power, process, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Industrial, Defense Electronics, and Naval & Power.