Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $93.32 Million Stake in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 369,293 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 28,241 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.62% of Woodward worth $93,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $2,039,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Woodward by 35.5% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,390 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 684.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the second quarter worth $135,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.7% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Woodward from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Woodward from $366.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $362.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.80.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $356.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $360.55 and a 200-day moving average of $299.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.96. Woodward, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $403.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.52. Woodward had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $996.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $901.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.600 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.12%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, EVP Shawn M. Mclevige sold 1,850 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.37, for a total transaction of $711,084.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,625.15. The trade was a 37.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen P. Paterson sold 5,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.15, for a total value of $1,966,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,744.70. The trade was a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 31,925 shares of company stock worth $11,692,560 over the last ninety days. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Company Profile

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.