Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,008 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Woodward by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $219,321,000 after purchasing an additional 59,290 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $99,000,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Woodward by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $864,156.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $180.53 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.45 and a 1 year high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $185.09 and its 200 day moving average is $175.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

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 net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

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.