Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $2.69 Million Investment in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,143 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,687,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 94.2% in 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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 upped their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Up 1.3 %

Woodward stock opened at $184.74 on Wednesday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

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

Woodward 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.