Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 30.0%, holding approximately 0.57% of the company after selling 146,016 shares in the first quarter.
• Woodward reported earnings of $1.76 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing an 8.0% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 17.72%.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 30.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 339,927 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 146,016 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.57% of Woodward worth $61,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,815 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,627,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Woodward by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,057 shares of the technology company's stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Woodward by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,522 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 700.5% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 97,291 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,191,000 after buying an additional 85,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Woodward by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,915 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $239.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 626,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,384. The company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.27. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $267.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $250.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Woodward's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's payout ratio is 17.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,096 shares of company stock worth $759,060 in the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.