Capital Fund Management S.A. Has $7.09 Million Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. has increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 86.9%, now owning 38,833 shares valued at approximately $7.09 million.
• Analysts have shown optimism for Woodward, with several firms raising their price targets, including Goldman Sachs raising it from $229.00 to $255.00 and Alembic Global Advisors upgrading the stock to "overweight."
• Woodward recently posted a quarterly earnings report exceeding expectations, with reported earnings per share of $1.76 against a consensus estimate of $1.62.

Capital Fund Management S.A. raised its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 86.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,833 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 18,053 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Woodward worth $7,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 44,162.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,187,000 after acquiring an additional 471,217 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,225,750 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $203,989,000 after acquiring an additional 168,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter valued at $25,667,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. This trade represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,296 shares of company stock valued at $5,544,333. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Down 1.2%

WWD traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $249.38. The company had a trading volume of 188,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,140. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $267.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $250.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.68.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business's 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, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Woodward's payout ratio is 17.72%.

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.