Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 112.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,645 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 5,629 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $1,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Up 0.6 %

Woodward stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $189.12. 434,774 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 320,879. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.56 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $176.17 and a 200-day moving average of $169.72.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $810.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $190.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward 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.