Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Sold by Agate Pass Investment Management LLC

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 36.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,380 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,933 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accel Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth about $236,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 78.6% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 15.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 18.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,923 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 427.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after buying an additional 5,534 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded 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, August 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Woodward in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $329.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Eight 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.88, for a total value of $1,489,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,508,413.80. This represents a 24.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total value of $2,105,320.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,610 shares in the company, valued at $2,890,303.60. This trade represents a 42.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $11,908,210. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $287.85 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $272.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $304.72.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.68% and a net margin of 12.39%.The business had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $943.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.