Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 106,016 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 98.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,148 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 106,016 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Woodward by 222.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 23,990 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 16,557 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Woodward by 13.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 870 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Woodward by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $899,431,000 after purchasing an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Woodward during the first quarter valued at $1,301,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Woodward during the first quarter valued at $1,036,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WWD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $1,385,803.69. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,015,921.43. The trade was a 40.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304 over the last ninety days. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $169.54 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.31 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $167.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid 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 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 16.72%.

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.