Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by LaFleur & Godfrey LLC

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC cut its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,512 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the period. Woodward makes up 1.7% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Woodward worth $11,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $4,911,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,061,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $710,923,000 after purchasing an additional 59,884 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 12.0% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,377,000 after purchasing an additional 40,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 95.3% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of WWD traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $155.79. 106,964 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,323. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.66. The company has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.35. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.42 and a 1-year high of $155.97. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 21.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Woodward from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $105.00 to $153.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 90 days, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.