Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Sells 6,107 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Key Points

• Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC reduced its holdings in Woodward, Inc. by 7.9%, resulting in ownership of 70,753 shares valued at approximately $12.9 million.
• Insider sales included EVP Randall Hobbs selling 846 shares for $211,500 and EVP Terence J. Voskuil selling 10,000 shares for $2.31 million, contributing to a total of 29,296 shares sold by insiders in the last ninety days.
• Woodward reported a revenue increase of 8.0% year-over-year for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $1.76, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lessened its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,753 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,107 shares during the period. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC owned about 0.12% of Woodward worth $12,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Circle Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Woodward by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 49,481 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 purchasing an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tribune Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $8,577,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.11.

Woodward Stock Down 0.1%

WWD stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $249.30. 392,766 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 496,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.30. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $250.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.32.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business'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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders 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 0.4%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.41, for a total transaction of $1,142,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 67,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,346,639.49. This represents a 6.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,296 shares of company stock worth $4,464,433. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

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.