Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stake in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,189 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 142.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $3,585,000. Optas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $222,000. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $610,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 12,479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,277,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $247.20 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $267.45. The company has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.26. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $246.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.52.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’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, equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WWD shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Woodward to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.