Woodward, Inc. $WWD Shares Purchased by Circle Wealth Management LLC

Circle Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 9.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,526 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Circle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Woodward by 191.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in Woodward by 2,314.3% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 50.0% during the first quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.11.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.98, for a total transaction of $1,079,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 73,117 shares in the company, valued at $15,791,809.66. This represents a 6.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,296 shares of company stock valued at $6,611,283. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Trading Up 0.1%

WWD opened at $248.04 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $267.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

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.