Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Sold by Pacific Capital Partners Ltd

Pacific Capital Partners Ltd reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 76.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Woodward makes up about 1.7% of Pacific Capital Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd’s holdings in Woodward were worth $1,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WWD. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,057 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Woodward by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,522 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Woodward by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $238.17 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve month high of $267.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $249.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of Woodward 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 sale, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,096 shares of company stock valued at $759,060. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on WWD shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.11.

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.