Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $330,000 in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,895 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after acquiring an additional 77,654 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $207,359,000 after acquiring an additional 147,856 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 4th quarter worth about $84,157,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 559,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,302,000 after acquiring an additional 35,281 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Woodward by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 500,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,200,000 after buying an additional 4,147 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Up 3.2 %

WWD traded up $4.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $158.59. 392,365 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 427,236. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $119.03 and a one year high of $188.35. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The company had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.11.

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.