Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,735 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $216,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Woodward by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 10.1 %

Shares of WWD opened at $157.29 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.45 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $184.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

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.