Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $1.78 Million Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,038 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $710,923,000 after purchasing an additional 59,884 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 6.3% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,047,000 after purchasing an additional 62,897 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 496,844 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 61.9% in the third quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 490,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,893,000 after purchasing an additional 187,300 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.22.

Woodward Trading Down 0.4 %

WWD opened at $149.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.42 and a fifty-two week high of $160.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $147.01 and its 200 day moving average is $138.07.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.