Millennium Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 91.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,770 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 87,246 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.31% of Woodward worth $30,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Woodward by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,700 shares of company stock worth $6,823,600 in the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $1.87 on Thursday, hitting $206.00. 472,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,094. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $216.95.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Woodward's payout ratio is 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.00.

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.