Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $271.71 and last traded at $271.6550, with a volume of 117530 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $266.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price target on Woodward and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Woodward to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Woodward Trading Up 1.9%

The firm has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $250.59 and a 200 day moving average of $239.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the second quarter worth approximately $246,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 0.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 165,286 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth $3,682,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $294,000. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at $250,000. 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.