Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,692 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,809 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of Woodward worth $6,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Woodward by 194.7% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,416 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,130,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $617,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 649,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $108,166,000 after buying an additional 36,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 27,449 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,568,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $172.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.25.

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Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $167.64. The company had a trading volume of 369,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,436. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.45 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $182.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Company 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.