Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its position in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 21.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,582 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $75,735,000 after purchasing an additional 210,746 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $207,359,000 after purchasing an additional 147,856 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.3% in 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. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 226,909 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,971,000 after purchasing an additional 46,005 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 2.5 %

Woodward stock opened at $163.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.08. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.03 and a 12 month high of $188.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WWD. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.67.

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.