Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $200.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WWD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.44.

Woodward Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $181.32 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.15. The company has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a 52 week low of $131.12 and a 52 week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total value of $1,745,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,313 shares of company stock worth $8,933,572. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 2.4% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,734 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.