Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Short Interest Down 21.0% in December

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 757,600 shares, a drop of 21.0% from the December 15th total of 959,200 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 449,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $183.66. 257,886 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 436,543. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50 day moving average is $175.52 and its 200 day moving average is $169.39. Woodward has a one year low of $133.56 and a one year high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Woodward's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $190.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,165,000 after acquiring an additional 76,313 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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.