Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,862 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 30,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,374,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,687,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 29,001 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,826,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 502,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,554,000 after acquiring an additional 19,868 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $176.35 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.21. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.13 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WWD. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.