Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Price

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $197.00 to $193.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.78.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $182.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.35. 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 12 month low of $131.69 and a 12 month high of $201.64.

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

Woodward Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 over the last ninety days. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the second quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Woodward by 19.5% during the second quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth $271,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 136.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 68,877 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,011,000 after acquiring an additional 39,732 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.