Private Advisor Group LLC Has $1.48 Million Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Private Advisor Group LLC lessened its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,893 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth $41,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.99, for a total value of $1,799,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,864.89. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 0.6 %

WWD stock opened at $183.91 on Thursday. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $136.25 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $182.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

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.