Ieq Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 665.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,357 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 18,568 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,165,000 after acquiring an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Woodward by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,871 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Woodward by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Woodward by 100.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,869 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Woodward by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $184.74 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $136.25 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.94 and its 200 day moving average is $172.63. The company has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 18.76%.

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.