Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,692 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $6,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,547,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,275,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 105.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 10.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $157.29 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $184.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.26. The company has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised 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, StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.38.

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.