Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 3,296 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,296 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,236,000 after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $2,547,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Woodward by 11.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock worth $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $4.66 on Thursday, hitting $192.23. 213,884 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 465,648. The company has a fifty day moving average of $178.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.64. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, 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.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $195.00.

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.