Oak Thistle LLC Buys 201 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,690 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.6% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after buying an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after buying an additional 59,290 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Woodward by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after buying an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $184.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $175.17 and a 200-day moving average of $169.32. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.56 and a 1 year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.