JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 5.0% in the first quarter, holding about 1.84% of the company with a total value of $199.3 million.
• Woodward reported an EPS of $1.76 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue reaching $915.45 million, up 8.0% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, providing an annualized yield of 0.5%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 51,873 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.84% of Woodward worth $199,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the technology company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,353,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Woodward by 189.8% in 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 in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,825 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,100,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.0%

WWD traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $245.31. The company had a trading volume of 660,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,160. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $248.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.84. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $267.45. 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 $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.30.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total value of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,944,998.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,296 shares of company stock valued at $8,711,033. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.