SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 20,315 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 726.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,111 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,315 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 5.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Delta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Woodward by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,790 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Woodward by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $187.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.29. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.56 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business 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 company posted $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five investment 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.11.

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.