Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Purchases New Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,274 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,374,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Woodward by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,790 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,400 shares of company stock valued at $4,044,868. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 0.4 %

Woodward stock opened at $184.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.29. The company has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $136.25 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on 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 lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

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.