Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 25,211 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 25,211 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,196,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Woodward by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company's stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded up $2.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $187.10. 589,685 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 443,805. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50 day moving average price is $185.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.36. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, 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 given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WWD. Barclays raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently 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.