Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Increased to $152.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective boosted by Truist Financial from $143.00 to $152.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WWD. Barclays upped their target price on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $163.89.

Woodward Trading Up 7.5 %

Woodward stock opened at $162.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Woodward has a 12 month low of $95.60 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.67. The firm has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 21.10%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Woodward by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,758,261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $783,872,000 after purchasing an additional 37,011 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,047,000 after acquiring an additional 62,897 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after acquiring an additional 61,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $84,157,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after acquiring an additional 143,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.