Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $175.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $140.00 to $175.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WWD. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.13.

Woodward Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $178.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $152.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.70. Woodward has a 52-week low of $105.18 and a 52-week high of $179.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total transaction of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,914,324.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976 over the last quarter. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $710,923,000 after buying an additional 59,884 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,061,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Woodward by 12.0% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,377,000 after buying an additional 40,957 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.