Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Takes Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 14,853 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,547,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth $229,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 12.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 3.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Woodward by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in Woodward in the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WWD opened at $175.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.98. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.12 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price objective (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.