First Business Financial Services Inc. Invests $245,000 in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• First Business Financial Services Inc. invested $245,000 to acquire 1,000 shares of Woodward, Inc., reflecting strong institutional interest in the technology company.
• Woodward's recent quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting $1.76 EPS against a consensus estimate of $1.62, with a revenue of $915.45 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28, with an annualized yield of 0.4%, scheduled for payment to investors of record on November 20th.

First Business Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 189.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 116.7% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the first quarter worth $38,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Woodward by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $263.79 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $247.00 and its 200-day moving average is $230.81. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $268.67.

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.

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