AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership Buys New Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,275 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,165,000 after buying an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP grew its position in shares of Woodward by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,383,000 after buying an additional 64,212 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $192.47 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.56 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.94.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WWD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

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.