Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,875 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,923,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Woodward during the second quarter worth $69,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304 in the last ninety days. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $169.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.31 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The firm has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.09 and its 200-day moving average is $170.80.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.67.

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.