Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Purchased by Maven Securities LTD

Key Points

• Maven Securities LTD increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 138.2% during Q1, now holding 5,240 shares valued at $956,000.
• Woodward recently reported an EPS of $1.76, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.62, with a quarterly revenue of $915.45 million.
• Institutional investors own 81.18% of Woodward's shares, indicating significant interest and support from major financial entities.

Maven Securities LTD boosted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 138.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,240 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the quarter. Maven Securities LTD's holdings in Woodward were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $294,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Woodward by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Woodward by 13.3% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Woodward during the first quarter worth $294,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Woodward during the first quarter worth $733,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:WWD traded down $0.1140 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $247.9260. The company's stock had a trading volume of 51,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,633. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $249.73 and a 200-day moving average of $212.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business 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%. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.98, for a total value of $1,079,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 73,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,791,809.66. The trade was a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,245,250. This represents 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. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WWD. Zacks Research lowered shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.