Atomi Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $225,000 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. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 17,072.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Wave Global LP boosted its holdings in Woodward by 26.0% in the third quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 311,253 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,383,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.11.

Woodward Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $184.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $133.56 and a one year high of $201.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $178.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.