Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stake Lessened by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,315 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,955 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth $99,000,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth $1,698,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Woodward by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,255 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP increased its position in Woodward by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 5,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price target (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Woodward Trading Down 1.2 %

Woodward stock opened at $172.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.73. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.12 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

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.