Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,040,384 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 48,195 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $173,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,187,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $20,045,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $219,321,000 after buying an additional 59,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $182.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade 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 worth $5,215,444 in the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.