Oak Thistle LLC Takes $3.08 Million Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,201 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,388,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $603,663,000 after buying an additional 80,538 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,403,551 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $354,691,000 after buying an additional 8,307 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 122.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 905,578 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $228,849,000 after buying an additional 497,722 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 887,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $224,391,000 after buying an additional 18,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 771,497 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $194,965,000 after buying an additional 59,693 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eileen P. Paterson sold 5,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.15, for a total transaction of $1,966,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,744.70. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.80, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,340,619.20. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,925 shares of company stock worth $10,203,160. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $366.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Woodward from $430.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Woodward in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.50.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $375.17 on Wednesday. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.50 and a 1 year high of $403.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $22.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $373.06 and a 200-day moving average of $315.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.52. Woodward had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 12.89%.The business had revenue of $996.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.600 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.12%.

Woodward Profile

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.