Strs Ohio Buys Shares of 6,569 Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 6,569 shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWD) in the first quarter of 2023, representing an investment valued at approximately $1,199,000.
• Institutional and hedge fund activity has surged, with MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increasing its stake in Woodward by 191.2% during the same quarter.
• Woodward recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 17.72%.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,569 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,199,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $400,244,000 after acquiring an additional 49,481 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 51,873 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 9,386 shares during the period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 32,225 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,432 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $1.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $238.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,312,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,028. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.82 and a 12 month high of $267.45. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's fifty day moving average is $248.95 and its 200 day moving average is $219.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 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 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm'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. Analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.11.

Woodward 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.