Savvy Advisors Inc. Takes $532,000 Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,106 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 869,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $213,012,000 after acquiring an additional 15,572 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the second quarter valued at about $201,555,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 711,804 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $174,458,000 after purchasing an additional 31,434 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Woodward by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 639,139 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $156,646,000 after purchasing an additional 154,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 407,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,961,000 after purchasing an additional 27,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.62, for a total value of $831,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,974,551.50. This represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.88, for a total value of $1,489,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares in the company, valued at $4,508,413.80. This represents a 24.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,450 shares of company stock worth $14,706,235 in the last 90 days. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $378.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Woodward from $430.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $366.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.80.

Woodward Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $379.39 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $403.31. The stock has a market cap of $22.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $327.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.52. Woodward had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $996.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.600 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Woodward’s payout ratio is 14.11%.

Woodward Company Profile

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.