New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 2,800 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,690 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Woodward were worth $13,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 3.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Woodward by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Delta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,790 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,066,684.94. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,768 in the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $184.74 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $136.25 and a one year high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.94 and its 200-day moving average is $172.77.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

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.