Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Purchases New Shares in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 67,340 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $11,551,000. Woodward comprises 0.1% of Eisler Capital Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Woodward as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WWD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded up $4.98 on Monday, reaching $201.47. The stock had a trading volume of 474,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,683. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $179.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $203.13.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

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.