Analysts Set Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) PT at $187.44

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $187.44.

WWD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. This trade represents a 46.49 % 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. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Woodward by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $168.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a twelve month low of $131.12 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $171.91 and its 200 day moving average is $170.61.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.64%.

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.