HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 101 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,063 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WWD. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after buying an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Avala Global LP raised its position in shares of Woodward by 10.4% during the third quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 280,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,040,000 after acquiring an additional 26,500 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 28.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP increased its position in Woodward by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,383,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction 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. The trade was 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 90 days. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.44.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $175.10 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.12 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $171.38 and its 200-day moving average is $170.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

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.