Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Short Interest Update

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 961,700 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the January 31st total of 796,700 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 476,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth $124,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth $186,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 164,140 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,316,000 after acquiring an additional 26,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:WWD traded down $5.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $177.29. 471,407 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 450,979. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.19. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $144.13 and a fifty-two 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 capitalization of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays increased 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $197.38.

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.