Insider Selling: Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells $1,745,000.00 in Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Woodward Stock Up 0.8 %

WWD stock opened at $178.45 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $126.31 and a one year high of $188.35. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $165.87 and its 200 day moving average is $170.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $899,431,000 after buying an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,946 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Woodward by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,496 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $94,426,000 after acquiring an additional 16,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Woodward by 94.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after acquiring an additional 210,746 shares during the period. 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.