Trexquant Investment LP Buys 35,359 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 106.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,504 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,359 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Woodward were worth $11,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Woodward by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Up 1.6 %

WWD stock opened at $190.14 on Thursday. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $185.83 and its 200 day moving average is $177.14. The company has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.