Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,784 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,166 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $4,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company's stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Woodward Trading Up 0.5 %

WWD stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $178.83. The company had a trading volume of 469,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,993. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.29 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. 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 issued 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 net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Woodward's payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm'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 owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" 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.