AdvisorNet Financial Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,790 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Woodward were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WWD. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward 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 sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $187.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $175.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.61. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $133.56 and a one year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted 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 net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.64%.

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.