GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases New Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 318 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Alembic Global Advisors cut Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.75.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $168.83 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $150.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.18 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.