Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,047 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,770 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,165,000 after acquiring an additional 76,313 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP lifted its position in Woodward by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,383,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Stock Down 2.1 %

WWD stock opened at $184.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.56 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.30.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.