Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 649,961 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 36,911 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $108,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WWD. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $185.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.45 and a 1 year high of $201.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

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.