Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Acquired by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,736 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,692 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 194.7% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,130,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $617,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Woodward by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 649,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,166,000 after buying an additional 36,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $192.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.07. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.