Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,786 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,400 shares of company stock worth $4,044,868. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $188.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.43 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

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.