Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Sells 60 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,337 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,448,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 2.5 %

WWD stock opened at $184.33 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.71 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $183.37 and a 200 day moving average of $173.77.

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

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WWD. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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.