Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) is Cooke & Bieler LP’s 10th Largest Position

Cooke & Bieler LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,355,330 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 175,205 shares during the quarter. Woodward makes up about 2.2% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 2.29% of Woodward worth $225,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Woodward by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,008 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 910.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 9,816 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 8,845 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $481,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $289,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $173.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.13 and a 12-month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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.