Mengis Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Woodward by 12.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after acquiring an additional 6,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter valued at $1,698,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,768. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.9 %

Woodward stock opened at $183.06 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $182.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.95. The stock has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $136.25 and a 1-year high of $201.64. 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 issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

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

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.