Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,504 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,984 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of Woodward worth $14,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Woodward by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2,314.3% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 189.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 116.7% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth about $38,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.11.

Woodward Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $239.98 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $250.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.05. 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 has a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.27. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $267.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.72%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of Woodward 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,096 shares of company stock valued at $759,060 in the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.