Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,796 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,796 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 100.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 6,456 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Woodward by 4.7% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 29,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,038,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $1,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,400 shares of company stock valued at $4,044,868. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD opened at $184.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $182.97 and a 200 day moving average of $173.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $136.25 and a 52-week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

About Woodward

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.