Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWDFree Report) by 105.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,299 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth about $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $192.47 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.94. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.56 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWDGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WWD

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % 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 Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD)

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