Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WWD opened at $190.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.26. Woodward has a twelve month low of $135.93 and a twelve month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 12.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after acquiring an additional 6,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $1,698,000. Institutional investors 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.