Acadian Asset Management LLC Buys 210,746 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) by 94.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 210,746 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Woodward were worth $75,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at about $84,157,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 147,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Woodward by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,425,000 after acquiring an additional 143,410 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3,387.8% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,231 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,650,000 after acquiring an additional 75,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $159.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.03 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Woodward’s payout ratio is 17.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $197.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.11.

Woodward 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.