Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 53.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,220 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,411 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $169.58 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its 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 net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25 % 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 worth $5,215,444 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on Woodward and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.75.

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.