UMB Bank n.a. Purchases 128 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 52.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 374 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $62,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,790 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Woodward by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,734 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,928,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $187.95 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.56 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $177.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million for 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%. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.64%.

Woodward Company 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.