AXQ Capital LP Makes New $617,000 Investment in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,708 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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 upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.38.

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Woodward Trading Down 0.1 %

WWD traded down $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $188.03. 319,407 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 450,991. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. The trade was a 17.57 % 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 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by 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.