Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Boosts Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 145.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,751 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,996 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $216,771,000 after acquiring an additional 23,735 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,040,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $173,141,000 after acquiring an additional 48,195 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $120,220,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Woodward by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 649,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,166,000 after purchasing an additional 36,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $157.29 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $184.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.17. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.45 and a 1-year high of $201.64. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $1.45 EPS. Analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

About Woodward

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.