Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Grows Stock Position in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 217,107 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $54,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Woodward in the second quarter valued at $201,555,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $184,721,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $73,406,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 198.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 274,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $69,400,000 after acquiring an additional 182,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,617,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Shawn M. Mclevige sold 1,850 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.37, for a total value of $711,084.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,625.15. This trade represents a 37.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen P. Paterson sold 5,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.15, for a total value of $1,966,380.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,744.70. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 29,300 shares of company stock worth $9,875,510 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $373.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.09, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.96. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $403.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $353.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $295.81.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.52. Woodward had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The company had revenue of $996.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.600 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 16.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WWD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $362.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Woodward from $366.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $378.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Woodward from $430.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $354.80.

Woodward Profile

Woodward, Inc (NASDAQ: WWD) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of control systems and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company specializes in motion control, fuel systems, actuation, and digital control solutions. Its offerings enable precision management of flow, pressure and motion in critical applications ranging from aircraft engines and power turbines to hydraulic systems.

Woodward’s product portfolio is organized into two primary segments: Aerospace and Industrial.