Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $4.31 Million Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina decreased its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,890 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Woodward were worth $4,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Fund Management S.A. raised its stake in Woodward by 65.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 20,780 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,458,000 after purchasing an additional 8,254 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,187,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $2,909,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Woodward by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 458,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,368,000 after acquiring an additional 100,958 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Woodward by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 403,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,184,000 after acquiring an additional 42,023 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $170.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.31 and a 200-day moving average of $176.98.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Woodward from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $3,008,109.72. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 in the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.