LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 706 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lowered its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,973 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 706 shares during the quarter. Woodward makes up about 1.7% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC owned 0.12% of Woodward worth $12,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Delta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $235,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 112.2% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,645 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,629 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,395 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $189.12 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.17 and its 200 day moving average is $169.69. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $133.56 and a one year high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

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.