Citigroup Inc. Trims Holdings in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 3.5%, selling 1,895 shares and retaining 52,111 shares, worth approximately $9.51 million.
• Woodward recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.76, exceeding expectations and showing an 8.0% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share on September 4th, demonstrating a **17.72% dividend payout ratio**.

Citigroup Inc. cut its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,111 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,895 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.09% of Woodward worth $9,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $294,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at $733,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Northcoast Research raised Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,944,998.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,296 shares of company stock valued at $7,639,133 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD traded down $2.09 on Tuesday, reaching $244.93. The stock had a trading volume of 410,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,281. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $267.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $248.58 and a 200-day moving average of $210.44. 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 capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.30.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.