Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stake Boosted by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 1,228.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,780 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,614 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,324 shares of the technology company's stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,749,193 shares of the technology company's stock worth $718,131,000 after acquiring an additional 768,984 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter worth about $516,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 34,401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 224,853 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,088,000 after acquiring an additional 15,738 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Woodward news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded up $3.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $158.24. 395,622 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 377,087. The company has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.36. The company's 50 day moving average is $144.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.97. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.42 and a 1 year high of $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Alembic Global Advisors cut Woodward from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Woodward from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $152.89.

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.