Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 158 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 10.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,422 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Woodward by 3.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,734 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Woodward by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,575 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price target (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.44.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock opened at $166.42 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.87 and a 200-day moving average of $169.63. The firm has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.12 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

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.