Snyder Capital Management L P Reduces Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Snyder Capital Management L P cut its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 605,627 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 25,350 shares during the quarter. Woodward comprises 2.1% of Snyder Capital Management L P's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Snyder Capital Management L P owned 1.02% of Woodward worth $100,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WWD traded up $1.00 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $185.83. 246,449 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 504,674. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

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.