Insider Selling: Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Woodward Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $187.59. 135,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 443,719. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,448,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 12.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after buying an additional 6,917 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WWD shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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.