Barclays PLC Purchases 132,287 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Barclays PLC increased its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 313.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,476 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 132,287 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.29% of Woodward worth $29,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $31,187,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,045,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 458,886 shares of the technology company's stock worth $76,368,000 after purchasing an additional 100,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $5.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $180.12. 96,955 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,226. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.92. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $201.64.

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

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's payout ratio is 18.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "reduce" rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $193.75.

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.