Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys New Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,317 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 6.2% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $267.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $252.02. 207,573 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 482,310. The company has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.06. 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 $255.83.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

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.