Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,160 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 13,886 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $8,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Woodward by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Woodward by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Woodward by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,790 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $186.53 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $136.25 and a one year high of $201.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $180.93 and its 200 day moving average is $171.53. The stock has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,400 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,768 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.