Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Purchased by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Woodward, Inc. by 0.9%, owning 486,281 shares valued at approximately $88.7 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• In the first quarter, several institutional investors boosted their stakes in Woodward, with 81.18% of the company's stock now owned by these entities.
• Woodward's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.76, surpassing expectations, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 486,281 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.82% of Woodward worth $88,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Woodward by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth approximately $294,000. Finally, Tribune Investment Group LP purchased a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,577,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,296 shares of company stock worth $5,544,333 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Woodward Stock Performance

Woodward stock opened at $246.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $249.95 and a 200-day moving average of $212.40. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $267.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.

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