Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stake Boosted by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 129.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,138 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,027 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.09% of Woodward worth $9,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,160 shares of the technology company's stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Woodward by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,160 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,181,000 after acquiring an additional 13,886 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,286 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Woodward by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,850 shares of the technology company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $232.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.38, for a total transaction of $1,071,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,623,585.64. The trade was a 6.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were 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 owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,305.73. This represents a 39.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,050 shares of company stock worth $13,267,077 over the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $3.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $231.82. The stock had a trading volume of 232,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,568. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $236.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $197.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.11. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. 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.