Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,424 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,424 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $185.39 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.45 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.65. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.