Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 1,512 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,008 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $180.53 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The stock has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.05.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, 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 value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.