Invesco Ltd. Acquires 42,023 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 403,703 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 42,023 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.68% of Woodward worth $67,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ WWD traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.17. The company had a trading volume of 429,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,309. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.91. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. 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 18.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $193.75.

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.