Choreo LLC Boosts Stake in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,812 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $5,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Woodward by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 2,218.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 255 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WWD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.22.

Woodward Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $298.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $257.63 and a 200 day moving average of $246.33. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $303.07.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $995.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $943.15 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

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.