Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Purchased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,690 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 726.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,111 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,846,000 after acquiring an additional 20,315 shares during the period. AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $234,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $183.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.56 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.