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

US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,623 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,247 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Woodward were worth $5,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth $41,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $182.88 on Thursday. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $144.04 and a one year high of $201.64. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $183.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.