Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 158 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,422 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Woodward by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after buying an additional 210,746 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,165,000 after buying an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 13.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after acquiring an additional 74,734 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WWD opened at $166.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.12 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.87 and its 200-day moving average is $169.63.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

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.