Blue Trust Inc. Buys 264 Shares of Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,189 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Woodward by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Woodward by 32.5% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 50.0% during the first quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WWD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Woodward Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $247.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $267.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $246.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.52.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.72%.

Woodward 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.