Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,897 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. State Street Corp raised its position in Woodward by 4.8% in the third 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. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after buying an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $99,000,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,008,669.50. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072 in the last quarter. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WWD. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 target price (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Woodward Stock Up 0.3 %

WWD opened at $168.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.61. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.12 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

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.