Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 85.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,919 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Delta Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 2.1 %

Woodward stock opened at $180.53 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.29 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 18.76%.

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.