Amundi Lowers Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 5.2%, owning 22,559 shares valued at approximately $3.946 million after selling 1,227 shares in the first quarter.
• Insiders sold 3,096 shares of Woodward stock totaling $759,060 over the last 90 days, which brought the insider ownership down to 0.82%.
• Woodward reported an earnings per share of $1.76 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 8.0% year-over-year.

Amundi trimmed its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,559 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Woodward were worth $3,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $400,244,000 after acquiring an additional 49,481 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock worth $199,326,000 after purchasing an additional 51,873 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 637,888 shares of the technology company's stock worth $116,408,000 after purchasing an additional 9,386 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Woodward by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 44,162.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,187,000 after purchasing an additional 471,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $240.44. The stock had a trading volume of 663,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,391. The firm has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.27. 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 50 day moving average of $249.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.41. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve month high of $267.45.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,096 shares of company stock worth $759,060. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WWD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.