Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 48.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,809 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,839 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Woodward by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 490,042 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,893,000 after acquiring an additional 187,300 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,627,000. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 6.3% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,047,000 after purchasing an additional 62,897 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Woodward by 1,228.8% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,398,000 after buying an additional 62,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Woodward by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Woodward news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,976. 1.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.13.

Woodward Stock Up 1.0 %

Woodward stock opened at $178.14 on Thursday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.18 and a twelve month high of $179.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.70.

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

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

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.