Mission Wealth Management LP Acquires Shares of 3,343 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Mission Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,343 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Woodward by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 2,314.3% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total transaction of $1,864,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,305.73. This represents a 39.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value 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. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,550 shares of company stock worth $11,542,077. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD traded down $1.10 on Friday, reaching $237.89. 783,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,738. The company's 50-day moving average price is $205.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.45. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $241.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.24.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors 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 0.47%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.