Ingalls & Snyder LLC Decreases Stake in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Ingalls & Snyder LLC reduced its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,100 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth 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. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 110,799 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter worth about $13,055,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 51,873 shares during 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 $265.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.47. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year high of $267.45.

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. The firm had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, 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 value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

About Woodward

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.