Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,045 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Woodward were worth $12,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $170.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. 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 50 day simple moving average is $181.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.98. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 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 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 business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. 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. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on WWD shares. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total transaction of $1,864,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,305.73. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.