Natixis Advisors L.P. Buys 7,551 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,736 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,551 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $6,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 79.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Woodward by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,324.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976 in the last quarter. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $179.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.97. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.18 and a 12 month high of $180.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

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.