Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $197.38 Average Target Price from Analysts

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $197.38.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WWD. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth about $120,220,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,187,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $188.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $186.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

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.