Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,481 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $4,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,687,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 99,057 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,485,000 after purchasing an additional 12,838 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 123.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,567 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 4,188 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,461 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $232.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total transaction of $1,142,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 67,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,346,639.49. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.74. The stock had a trading volume of 413,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,503. The firm's fifty day moving average is $227.06 and its 200 day moving average is $197.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.95. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $255.69. The stock has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.26.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Woodward's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Woodward's payout ratio is 18.09%.

Woodward 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.