HB Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,103 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,103 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 27,449 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,568,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,692 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,471 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the technology company's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Woodward by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 85,488 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,227,000 after purchasing an additional 5,033 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded down $2.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $249.43. 298,577 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 522,067. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.76. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $267.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%. Woodward's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total value of $2,310,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,296 shares of company stock worth $8,711,033. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.63.

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.