Advisors Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 10.9%, owning 15,560 shares valued at approximately $2.84 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Research firms have provided mixed ratings for Woodward, with Northcoast Research upgrading to a "hold" while UBS Group raised its price target to $299.00 and issued a "buy" rating.
• Woodward announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 17.72%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,560 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,901 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its position in Woodward by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock worth $400,244,000 after purchasing an additional 49,481 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock worth $199,326,000 after acquiring an additional 51,873 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Woodward by 1.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 637,888 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $116,408,000 after acquiring an additional 9,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Woodward by 0.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 486,281 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $88,743,000 after acquiring an additional 4,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,096 shares of company stock worth $759,060 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ WWD traded down $1.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $238.17. 432,693 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,204. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50 day moving average is $249.97 and its 200-day moving average is $217.43.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.11.

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.