Two Sigma Advisers LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Two Sigma Advisers LP cut its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 32,700 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Woodward were worth $34,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Woodward by 101.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $179.71 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $170.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.06. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $131.12 and a one year 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.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price target (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,313 shares of company stock valued at $8,933,572. 1.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Company 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.