LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Lowers Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC reduced its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 81,512 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the period. Woodward accounts for approximately 1.7% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $11,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the second quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of WWD stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $155.79. 106,964 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,323. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.42 and a 1 year high of $155.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.66.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $153.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.89.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 over the last quarter. 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.