Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.11.

Woodward Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ WWD opened at $238.17 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $249.97 and a 200-day moving average of $217.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.27. Woodward has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $267.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,121,680.16. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,096 shares of company stock worth $759,060. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Woodward during the second quarter worth about $201,555,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 44,162.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,187,000 after buying an additional 471,217 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Woodward by 31.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 639,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $156,646,000 after buying an additional 154,071 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,667,000. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at approximately $22,355,000. 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.