New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 12,841 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 12,841 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,137,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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 target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Down 2.5 %

WWD stock opened at $183.29 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.45 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $186.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.70. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $3,008,109.72. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. 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.