Jennison Associates LLC Acquires New Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 115,091 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,208,000. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.19% of Woodward as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $25,667,000. Senator Investment Group LP acquired a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth about $22,355,000. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. raised its stake in Woodward by 164.5% during the first 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 period. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth about $13,055,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Woodward by 5.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $199,326,000 after acquiring an additional 51,873 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Woodward

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

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $265.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.69. The company has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a PE ratio of 42.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.82 and a 12-month high of $270.21.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.67.

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.