Ballentine Partners LLC Has $272,000 Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,588 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 299 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WWD. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of 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, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ WWD opened at $164.88 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $164.83 and its 200-day moving average is $168.97. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.41 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The company had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.