Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Takes $332,000 Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,151 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Woodward by 214.0% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,654 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 14,077 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 59,884 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $1,416,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Woodward by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,377,000 after acquiring an additional 40,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total transaction of $1,002,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 1.0 %

Woodward stock opened at $174.08 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $177.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.69. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.90 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

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.