1,114 Shares in Woodward, Inc. $WWD Acquired by Wedmont Private Capital

Key Points

• Wedmont Private Capital acquired 1,114 shares of Woodward, Inc. valued at approximately $281,000, marking a new investment position in the company.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its Woodward holdings by over 44,162%, owning now 472,284 shares worth approximately $86.2 million.
• Woodward's quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.76, surpassing analysts' expectations, while setting guidance for FY 2025 at 6.500-6.750 EPS.

Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,114 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Woodward by 32.5% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Woodward by 1.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 1.2% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ WWD traded up $2.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $240.56. 422,702 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 539,028. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.27. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $267.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $248.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.33.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.11.

About Woodward

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.