Strs Ohio Buys Shares of 6,569 Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,569 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,199,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 191.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in 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. grew its holdings in Woodward by 189.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 116.7% during 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 bought a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth $38,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Northcoast Research upgraded Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given 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 target price of $253.11.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $237.49 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.54. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.82 and a 12 month high of $267.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Woodward Company 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.