Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Position Lifted by Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C grew its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 12.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,648 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C’s holdings in Woodward were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $899,431,000 after purchasing an additional 77,654 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 2.6% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after buying an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after acquiring an additional 74,734 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Woodward by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $94,426,000 after acquiring an additional 16,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after purchasing an additional 210,746 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.11.

Woodward Trading Up 0.0 %

Woodward stock opened at $170.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.03 and a 12 month high of $188.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.87. The stock has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.37.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

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.