Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 2,286 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,286 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after buying an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $207,359,000 after acquiring an additional 147,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after acquiring an additional 74,734 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 3.1% during 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 boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,735,000 after acquiring an additional 210,746 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $169.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.03 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $164.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.52.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 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. Stockholders 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 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Woodward Company Profile

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.