Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,503 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,603 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after buying an additional 5,363 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Woodward by 14.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,574 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,244,000 after acquiring an additional 3,932 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Woodward by 10.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Woodward by 15.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 17,989 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,085,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $190.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

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.