Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Decreases Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Posted by on Aug 9th, 2023

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina cut its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD – Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,338 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Woodward by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Woodward by 6.7% during the first quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 3,200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Woodward by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,694 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 265.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 380 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.39% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $127.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $117.73 and a 200 day moving average of $106.70. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.26 and a 52 week high of $133.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The technology company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.40. Woodward had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $800.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.49 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $120.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.78.

Read Our Latest Report on Woodward

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald M. Sega sold 2,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.90, for a total transaction of $223,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,799.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ronald M. Sega sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.90, for a total transaction of $223,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,799.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald M. Sega sold 1,395 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.20, for a total value of $155,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $1,522,216.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,395 shares of company stock worth $632,344. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Company Profile

(Free Report)

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates through 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.

Featured Articles

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD)

Receive News & Ratings for Woodward Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Woodward and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.