Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Sold by Newport Trust Company LLC

Newport Trust Company LLC cut its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,264,854 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 117,529 shares during the period. Woodward accounts for about 1.0% of Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Newport Trust Company LLC owned 3.80% of Woodward worth $394,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 59.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward during the second quarter worth approximately $746,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 85.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 55,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,748,000 after purchasing an additional 25,800 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,545,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth $855,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WWD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.11.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $167.77 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.03 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $164.84 and a 200-day moving average of $165.78.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s payout ratio is 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.