Pacific Capital Partners Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Pacific Capital Partners Ltd has reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 76.9%, dropping from 32,500 shares to only 7,500 shares, now representing 1.7% of its portfolio.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their holdings in Woodward recently, with GAMMA Investing LLC growing its position by a staggering 44,162.8% in the first quarter.
• Equities analysts have mixed ratings on Woodward, with Zacks Research downgrading it from a "strong-buy" to a "hold," while Deutsche Bank upgraded it to a "buy" with a price target of $291.00.

Pacific Capital Partners Ltd decreased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 76.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Woodward makes up 1.7% of Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's holdings in Woodward were worth $1,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WWD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 44,162.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company's stock worth $86,187,000 after purchasing an additional 471,217 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $25,667,000. Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $22,355,000. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 164.5% during the first quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. now owns 178,139 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,503,000 after purchasing an additional 110,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 91.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 182,770 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,417,000 after purchasing an additional 87,246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,096 shares of company stock valued at $759,060 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group raised their price target on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.11.

Woodward Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $238.17 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $249.97 and its 200 day moving average is $217.67. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is 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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