Xponance Inc. Buys 304 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,749 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position 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 buying an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd 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. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth $99,000,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WWD. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WWD opened at $185.39 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.66 and a 200-day moving average of $175.86.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its 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 return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

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.