Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,577 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $2,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $2.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $187.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 589,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,805. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.