M&T Bank Corp Acquires 772 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,560 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in Woodward by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,047,000 after acquiring an additional 62,897 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after acquiring an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 496,844 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its position 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 valued at $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,324.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of WWD opened at $176.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.18 and a 52 week high of $177.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.70 and a 200-day moving average of $140.44.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 17.48%.

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.