Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 119,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of Woodward worth $20,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 86,219 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,908 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Woodward by 0.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 221,527 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 3.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 17.9% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 18,127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $172.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.46 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $167.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.72%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.