Sei Investments Co. Grows Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 649,961 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,911 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 1.09% of Woodward worth $108,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company's stock worth $219,321,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock worth $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Woodward by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $188.03. 319,407 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 450,991. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.45 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50-day moving average price is $186.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.