Larson Financial Group LLC Purchases 544 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,618 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $3,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at $69,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WWD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.67.

Woodward Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of WWD stock opened at $176.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.96. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.46 and a 1 year high of $188.35.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 16.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock worth $4,907,304. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

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.