Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $205.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $193.00 to $205.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $194.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.63 and a 200 day moving average of $170.85. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $134.82 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,313 shares of company stock worth $9,007,072. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.