Sanctuary Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,286 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 389 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after purchasing an additional 59,290 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth about $99,000,000. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP lifted its stake in Woodward by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,383,000 after buying an additional 64,212 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WWD opened at $183.06 on Tuesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $136.25 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.95. The company has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost 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%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price 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, Truist Financial raised 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Company 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.