12,841 Shares in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Bought by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,841 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,137,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,220,000. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $31,187,000. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $20,045,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. UBS Group increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $183.29 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 $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $186.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.