Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Key Points

• Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Woodward, Inc., purchasing 1,200 shares worth approximately $219,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Wells Fargo & Company has increased its price target for Woodward shares from $175.00 to $193.00 and classified the stock with an "equal weight" rating.
• Woodward announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, set to be paid on September 4th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.42%.

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,200 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,175,000 after purchasing an additional 367,300 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $236,004,000 after purchasing an additional 38,774 shares during the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its holdings in Woodward by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,225,750 shares of the technology company's stock worth $203,989,000 after buying an additional 168,035 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $242.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,296 shares of company stock valued at $8,711,033. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock traded up $2.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $259.29. 760,614 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 568,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $242.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.35. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $267.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

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.