Principal Securities Inc. Takes $34,000 Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 252 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $710,923,000 after buying an additional 59,884 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Woodward by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Woodward by 12.0% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,377,000 after buying an additional 40,957 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $184.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.41. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.18 and a 12-month high of $185.35. The firm has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WWD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Woodward news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,700 shares of company stock valued at $8,036,686 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Company 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.