Maven Securities LTD Purchases 3,040 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

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 raised its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 138.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,240 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during the period. Maven Securities LTD's holdings in Woodward were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Woodward by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Woodward by 13.3% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $733,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,142,443.35. The trade was a 66.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,296 shares of company stock valued at $6,611,283. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $248.04. The stock had a trading volume of 382,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 586,667. The firm has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.25, a P/E/G 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.77. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $146.82 and a one year high of $267.45.

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 the consensus estimate 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%. Woodward's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WWD. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report 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 report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Woodward to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.