Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 9,604 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, holding 614,738 shares valued at approximately $112.18 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Woodward reported strong earnings with a net margin of 11.32% and revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5%, payable on September 4th.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 614,738 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 9,604 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.04% of Woodward worth $112,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upped 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total value of $2,310,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the company'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 value of $565,582.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,739 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,998.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,296 shares of company stock worth $5,544,333 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Woodward stock traded down $2.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $249.93. The company had a trading volume of 156,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,861. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $250.26 and a 200 day moving average of $212.68. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $267.45.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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