D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 85,137 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 700.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,291 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 85,137 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.16% of Woodward worth $16,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 51.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,189 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,236,000 after buying an additional 14,326 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,275,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Woodward by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 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 approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock traded up $1.46 on Friday, reaching $209.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 375,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,863. The business's fifty day moving average price is $181.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.21. 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 $12.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $209.94.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Woodward's payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price target on Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $195.00.

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.