Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,686 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in 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. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 1.0 %

WWD opened at $182.32 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $185.20 and a 200-day moving average of $175.23.

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 return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. 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. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

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.