YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 120 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,049 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $5,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KBC Group NV increased its position in Woodward by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,467 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 5,555.6% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WWD. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,929.15. This trade represents a 46.49 % 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 worth $10,752,072 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $184.09 on Tuesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.56 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $178.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.30. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given 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 yield of 0.54%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.