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

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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 increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Up 0.6 %

WWD opened at $183.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. Woodward has a 12 month low of $136.25 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.21.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 prior year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is 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.