Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,121 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,681 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $4,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WWD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Woodward by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 639,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $156,646,000 after purchasing an additional 154,071 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter valued at about $25,667,000. Senator Investment Group LP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $22,355,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,208,000. Finally, Eisler Capital Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 164.5% in the 1st quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. now owns 178,139 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,503,000 after acquiring an additional 110,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $298.15 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $146.82 and a one year high of $303.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $258.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.88 billion, a PE ratio of 47.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.58%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $427,560.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WWD. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.22.

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.