Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys Shares of 7,916 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,916 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,317,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $236,004,000 after acquiring an additional 38,774 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its holdings in Woodward by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock worth $216,771,000 after acquiring an additional 23,735 shares during the period. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,225,750 shares of the technology company's stock worth $203,989,000 after acquiring an additional 168,035 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.38, for a total value of $1,071,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,623,585.64. This trade represents a 6.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,700 shares of company stock valued at $6,823,600. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Woodward Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ WWD traded up $2.54 on Friday, hitting $208.54. 78,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,376. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G 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 released 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 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. Wall Street Zen raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price target on Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.88.

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.