Marshall Wace LLP Acquires Shares of 2,500 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Woodward by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,886,305.73. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of WWD stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 328,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,402. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The stock has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $178.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.54.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. The business had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Woodward's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.00.

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.