Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $175.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $172.00 to $175.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

WWD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.75.

Woodward Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $169.17 on Tuesday. Woodward has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $180.32 and a 200-day moving average of $176.91. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.28 dividend. 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 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $236,004,000 after acquiring an additional 38,774 shares during the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,133,000 after acquiring an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $216,771,000 after purchasing an additional 23,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,225,750 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $203,989,000 after purchasing an additional 168,035 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently 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.