Wall Street Zen Upgrades Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) to “Strong-Buy”

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Northcoast Research raised Woodward to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.11.

Woodward Trading Down 0.7%

Woodward stock opened at $242.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $250.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.62. 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 has a one year low of $146.82 and a one year high of $267.45. The stock has a market cap of $14.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,245,250. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 1.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Woodward by 32.5% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 11.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 506 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Woodward by 3.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,909 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 4.1% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.