Farallon Capital Management LLC Buys 367,300 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 367,300 shares during the quarter. Woodward comprises about 1.3% of Farallon Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Farallon Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.56% of Woodward worth $253,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Woodward by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,189 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,236,000 after acquiring an additional 14,326 shares during the period. 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. 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. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the technology company's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,275,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company 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, April 29th. UBS Group increased 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $4.98 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $201.47. The stock had a trading volume of 474,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,683. The company's 50-day moving average price is $179.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $203.13.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm'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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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. Insiders sold a total of 30,700 shares of company stock worth $5,751,700 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.