Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 1,906 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 59.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,128 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $710,923,000 after acquiring an additional 59,884 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 6.3% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,047,000 after purchasing an additional 62,897 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 500,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,200,000 after purchasing an additional 4,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its position in Woodward by 61.9% during the third quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 490,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,893,000 after purchasing an additional 187,300 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.13.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $182.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.58. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.18 and a 12 month high of $182.71.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,700 shares of company stock worth $8,036,686 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.