Zions Bancorporation N.A. Raises Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,736 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 28.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Woodward by 2.1% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,603 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after buying an additional 5,363 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four 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, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $192.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.07. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.45 and a 52-week high of $201.64. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. 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. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

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.