GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 376 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 54.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,067 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,946 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 13.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.78.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $182.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.69 and a 52-week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.35.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Woodward’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

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.