Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $174.67 Average PT from Brokerages

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.67.

Several brokerages have recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. 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, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Woodward by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $899,431,000 after purchasing an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Woodward by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 2.6% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $176.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.38. Woodward has a one year low of $129.46 and a one year high of $188.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.94.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.72%.

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.