Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 148,196 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Woodward were worth $20,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,230 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $988,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Woodward by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WWD opened at $151.07 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.52. The company has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.60 and a twelve month high of $160.79.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The company had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 21.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.