Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 503,977 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,099 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.85% of Woodward worth $83,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $173.24 on Tuesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.13 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.62. 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 has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio 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.