Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $3.26 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WWD has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072 over the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock opened at $175.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.12 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.64%.

Woodward 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.