Focus Partners Wealth Takes $294,000 Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,764 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $11,551,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,915 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 700.5% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 97,291 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,191,000 after buying an additional 85,137 shares during the period. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $0.56 on Wednesday, reaching $217.92. 59,747 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,790. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.51 and a 200-day moving average of $182.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $226.92.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.51%. Woodward's payout ratio is 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial set a $232.00 price objective on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four research 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.57, for a total transaction of $1,027,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,117 shares in the company, valued at $15,030,661.69. The trade was a 6.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 40,700 shares of company stock valued at $7,851,450. 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.