Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,176 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 67,177 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $32,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 21.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 10.7% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth $3,923,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 10.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 17.9% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 18,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $177.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.71. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.13 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 0.63%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Truist Financial raised 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. Barclays raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

About Woodward

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.