Panagora Asset Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Panagora Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Woodward, Inc. by 74.5% in Q2, now holding 8,380 shares valued at $2,054,000. Other investors have also adjusted their positions in Woodward. Analysts have mixed ratings, with a moderate buy consensus and an average price target of $286.67. Woodward reported strong quarterly earnings, beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 74.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,380 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 24,478 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Woodward: Delivering Critical Components for the Aerospace Boom

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WWD. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 189.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2,218.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 255 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 506 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Woodward in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.67.

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View Our Latest Analysis on Woodward

Woodward Price Performance

WWD opened at $301.64 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.82 and a twelve month high of $304.72. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.91.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $943.15 million. Woodward had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 17.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.58%.

Woodward declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 3,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.33, for a total transaction of $888,990.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,575 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,319.75. The trade was a 12.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.39, for a total value of $1,496,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,531,267.65. This trade represents a 24.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 14,750 shares of company stock worth $4,294,800 over the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Woodward Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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