Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 172 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 70.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 417 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.9 %

WWD opened at $183.06 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $136.25 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $182.11 and its 200 day moving average is $172.95. The stock has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WWD. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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 lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.