Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Purchased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 313.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 174,476 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132,287 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $29,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,040,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $173,141,000 after purchasing an additional 48,195 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $120,220,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 649,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,166,000 after purchasing an additional 36,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,977 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,872,000 after buying an additional 3,099 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.75.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD stock opened at $169.17 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $179.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.91. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 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.