KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 12,800 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,130,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,448,000. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $1,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $3,008,109.72. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $188.03 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.47. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Woodward 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.