Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,488 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,033 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of Woodward worth $14,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings 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. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 94.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Woodward from $205.00 to $172.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $193.25.

Remove Ads

Woodward Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:WWD traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $168.09. The company had a trading volume of 24,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,374. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $182.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.03. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The firm has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,305.73. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.