LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 2,606 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• LaFleur & Godfrey LLC reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 3.6%, now holding 70,137 shares valued at about $17.19 million.
• Director John D. Cohn and EVP Randall Hobbs both sold shares recently, with Cohn selling 1,750 shares and Hobbs selling 846 shares, indicating a slight decrease in their respective positions.
• Woodward is rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $253.11, following recent rating changes from various research firms.

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lessened its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,137 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,606 shares during the quarter. Woodward makes up about 2.1% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Woodward worth $17,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WWD. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock worth $400,244,000 after purchasing an additional 49,481 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock worth $199,326,000 after purchasing an additional 51,873 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 637,888 shares of the technology company's stock worth $116,408,000 after purchasing an additional 9,386 shares in the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 593,148 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,244,000 after purchasing an additional 32,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 486,281 shares of the technology company's stock worth $88,743,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Northcoast Research raised Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.11.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD stock opened at $238.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.27. 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 earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company'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 fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

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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