First Western Trust Bank Sells 5,000 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

First Western Trust Bank reduced its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,086 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank's holdings in Woodward were worth $2,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $710,923,000 after buying an additional 59,884 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $124,061,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Woodward by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company's stock worth $47,377,000 after acquiring an additional 40,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 95.3% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WWD. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. 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 report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,914,324.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business'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 directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976. Insiders own 1.12% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ WWD traded down $1.99 on Friday, hitting $177.26. The stock had a trading volume of 447,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,034. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.18 and a 52-week high of $180.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $153.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.

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