Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Bought by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,460 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $12,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after purchasing an additional 59,290 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $99,000,000. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP grew its holdings in Woodward by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,383,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $193.09 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $180.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.82 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,313 shares of company stock worth $7,230,572. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward 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.