US Bancorp DE Cuts Stake in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,342 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,188 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Woodward were worth $6,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,093,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,909 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 27,120 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 781.6% during the 2nd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 44,771 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,973,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Woodward Stock Down 1.8%

WWD stock opened at $247.20 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve month high of $267.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.79.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’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 research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.