Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP cut its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,526,266 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 153,508 shares during the quarter. Woodward comprises 1.8% of Cooke & Bieler LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 2.54% of Woodward worth $207,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 0.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,004,839 shares of the technology company's stock worth $584,691,000 after purchasing an additional 56,241 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company's stock worth $710,923,000 after purchasing an additional 59,884 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Woodward by 653.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,309,248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $223,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Woodward by 2.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,279,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,985,000 after purchasing an additional 44,428 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 6.3% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company's stock worth $132,047,000 after purchasing an additional 62,897 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Up 0.5 %

WWD traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $147.49. 312,411 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 448,138. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.42 and a 12-month high of $160.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $146.52 and a 200 day moving average of $137.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The company had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward's payout ratio is 21.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WWD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Woodward from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $148.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.22.

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.