Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 4,538 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 500,878 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,538 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $85,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Woodward by 101.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Woodward during the second quarter valued at $69,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.67.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock opened at $179.05 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.46 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Woodward 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.