LPL Financial LLC Cuts Position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 21.9%, selling 8,049 shares during the first quarter, and now holds shares valued at approximately $4.82 million.
• Recent earnings results showed Woodward reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates and marking an 8.0% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, set to be paid on September 4th, representing a yield of 0.5%.

LPL Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,643 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,049 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Woodward were worth $4,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 471,217 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,187,000. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,225,750 shares of the technology company's stock worth $203,989,000 after buying an additional 168,035 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.63.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $245.31. The stock had a trading volume of 660,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,160. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.30. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve month high of $267.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $248.33 and its 200 day moving average is $209.84. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,142,443.35. This trade represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total value of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,296 shares of company stock valued at $8,711,033 over the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.