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

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $193.00 to $205.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial upped 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. Barclays upped their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $194.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.63 and a 200 day moving average of $170.85. Woodward has a 52 week low of $134.82 and a 52 week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, 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 value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total value of $1,776,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,929.15. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,313 shares of company stock valued at $9,007,072 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth about $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,187,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,045,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 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.