Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Bought by Naya Capital Management UK Ltd.

Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. grew its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 130.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 751,541 shares during the period. Woodward comprises about 23.4% of Naya Capital Management UK Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. owned approximately 2.24% of Woodward worth $221,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 371 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,700 shares of company stock worth $5,751,700 over the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of WWD stock traded up $1.46 on Friday, reaching $209.79. 375,822 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,128. The stock has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $209.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.21.

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

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WWD. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $195.00.

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.