New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $14.66 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,490 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Woodward were worth $14,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $899,431,000 after buying an additional 77,654 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after buying an additional 34,946 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after buying an additional 74,734 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Woodward by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $94,426,000 after buying an additional 16,083 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,735,000 after buying an additional 210,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $166.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $126.31 and a one year high of $188.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.69. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.67.

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.