Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target to $172.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential downside of 1.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.25.

Woodward Trading Up 11.0 %

Shares of WWD opened at $174.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $182.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Woodward by 191.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.