Duquesne Family Office LLC Has $200.33 Million Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Duquesne Family Office LLC cut its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,097,750 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 128,000 shares during the quarter. Woodward makes up about 6.5% of Duquesne Family Office LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Duquesne Family Office LLC owned about 1.85% of Woodward worth $200,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $253,175,000 after acquiring an additional 367,300 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company's stock worth $236,004,000 after acquiring an additional 38,774 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.38, for a total transaction of $1,071,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,878 shares in the company, valued at $15,623,585.64. This trade represents a 6.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $536,256.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,050 shares of company stock valued at $13,267,077. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $232.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 486,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,188. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $236.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $197.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.11. The company has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WWD. 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 note on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.13.

Woodward 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.