US Bancorp DE Acquires 1,247 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,623 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.05% of Woodward worth $5,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,045,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 26.0% during the third quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,383,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $182.88 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $183.80 and its 200 day moving average is $174.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $144.04 and a one year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 firm earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current 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 positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s payout ratio 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.