State of Michigan Retirement System Raises Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,810 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,758,261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $783,872,000 after buying an additional 37,011 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $84,157,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after purchasing an additional 143,410 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 500,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,200,000 after purchasing an additional 4,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth $16,627,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WWD shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.38.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total transaction of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $174.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.78. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.90 and a 1-year high of $188.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $177.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.69.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.