Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 279.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,434 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,720 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Woodward worth $7,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 4,177.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $169.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 208,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 427,856. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.03 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The company has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $164.13 and a 200-day moving average of $166.52.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.29 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 17.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. TD Cowen lowered their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $197.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $177.11.

About Woodward

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.