Mengis Capital Management Inc. Sells 9,437 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Mengis Capital Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 62.5%, selling 9,437 shares and owning 5,663 shares after the sale.
• Woodward's stock is currently rated a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $268.67, reflecting favorable assessments from several analysts.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28, scheduled for payment on December 4th, representing an annual dividend yield of 0.4%.

Mengis Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,663 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 9,437 shares during the quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Woodward by 189.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Woodward by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Woodward by 32.5% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 50.0% during the first quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WWD. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $268.67.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ WWD opened at $251.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $267.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $246.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.88.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm 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 firm posted $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. Research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. 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.

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