SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 22,363 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 91.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,033 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 22,363 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of WWD opened at $152.59 on Wednesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.42 and a 52 week high of $160.79. The firm has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business had revenue of $786.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.89.

Woodward 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.