Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 59,290 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $219,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Woodward by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,734 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 51.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,236,000 after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $518,000. Finally, Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $175.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.12 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million during 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%. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. UBS Group raised 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. Barclays boosted their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Five equities 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

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.