Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $3.92 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 60.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,554 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,873 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Woodward were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WWD. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WWD. Barclays boosted their price target 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 boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $192.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $185.90 and a 200-day moving average of $176.07.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Woodward

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.