Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 32,700 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Two Sigma Advisers LP trimmed its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,800 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 32,700 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.33% of Woodward worth $34,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Woodward by 101.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $226.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $187.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,313 shares of company stock worth $8,933,572 over the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock traded down $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $179.71. 310,620 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 556,830. The company's fifty day moving average is $170.45 and its 200-day moving average is $171.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.12 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

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.