Federated Hermes Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,132 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 20,320 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.28% of Woodward worth $27,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Woodward from $205.00 to $172.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.25.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $0.46 during trading on Monday, hitting $168.10. The company had a trading volume of 96,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,557. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. 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.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.