Truist Financial Corp Buys 5,080 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 262.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,018 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,080 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $188.99 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $182.97 and a 200 day moving average of $173.29. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.43 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,066,684.94. This 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 22,400 shares of company stock valued at $4,044,868. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.