Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 10.7%, now holding 20,203 shares valued at approximately $3.69 million.
• Woodward reported earnings of $1.76 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing an 8% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28, with an annualized yield of 0.5%, alongside a dividend payout ratio of 17.72%.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,203 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,414 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Woodward were worth $3,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 153,150 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,948,000 after purchasing an additional 21,150 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at about $263,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,667,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $199,326,000 after acquiring an additional 51,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of Woodward 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,296 shares of company stock worth $6,611,283. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Down 0.8%

WWD traded down $2.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $246.00. The stock had a trading volume of 281,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,175. The company has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.69 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.40.

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

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.11.

About Woodward

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.