Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Shares Acquired by Point72 DIFC Ltd

Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 930.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,979 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,719 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Woodward were worth $2,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WWD. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 210,746 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.3% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $207,359,000 after purchasing an additional 147,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after purchasing an additional 143,410 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 77,654 shares during the period. Finally, Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 878.6% in the fourth quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 62,033 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,445,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $169.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $164.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.52.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.