Vontobel Holding Ltd. Takes Position 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 its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,317 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000.

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

Woodward Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ WWD traded up $2.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $252.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 440,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,090. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.83. The stock has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $255.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued 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 payout ratio is 18.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. This trade represents a 66.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total transaction of $1,142,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 67,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,346,639.49. The trade was a 6.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,096 shares of company stock worth $9,247,289 in the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial set a $267.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.88.

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.