Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Purchased by Permanens Capital L.P.

Key Points

• Permanens Capital L.P. increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 53.8% during the first quarter, now holding 4,415 shares valued at approximately $806,000.
• Research analysts have mixed opinions on Woodward, with several upgrades including a "buy" rating from Deutsche Bank and new price targets ranging from $245.00 to $299.00.
• Woodward declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 17.72%.

Permanens Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 53.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,415 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Permanens Capital L.P.'s holdings in Woodward were worth $806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. raised its stake in Woodward by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 44,162.8% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,175,000 after purchasing an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $25,667,000. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP bought a new position in Woodward in the first quarter worth about $22,355,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade 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 this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,096 shares of company stock valued at $759,060. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WWD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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 note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.11.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $239.98. 626,119 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 522,258. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $250.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.66. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $267.45. The company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $915.45 million during 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 firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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.