Williams & Novak LLC Purchases New Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Williams & Novak LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,961 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Woodward by 214.0% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,654 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after buying an additional 14,077 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 743.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 223,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,452,000 after buying an additional 197,125 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,962,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Woodward by 36.5% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,216 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after buying an additional 5,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after purchasing an additional 143,410 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD opened at $165.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $162.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.89. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.03 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The firm had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Woodward’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.67.

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.