Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

NASDAQ WWD traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $182.85. The company had a trading volume of 326,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,587. The company has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.13. Woodward has a twelve month low of $136.25 and a twelve month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $1,795,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 32,400 shares of company stock worth $5,844,768 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at 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.