Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 226 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,686 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 1.0 %

WWD stock opened at $182.32 on Tuesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.45 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $185.20 and its 200 day moving average is $175.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

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.