Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 481,849 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,279 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.81% of Woodward worth $80,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock worth $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $31,187,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 313.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 174,476 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,037,000 after buying an additional 132,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $20,045,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. The trade was a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,700 shares of company stock worth $5,751,700. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Up 1.8 %

WWD traded up $3.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $193.92. 568,569 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 466,570. The firm's fifty day moving average is $178.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.11. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

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.