Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 10,000 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Woodward Stock Down 0.3 %

WWD opened at $186.59 on Friday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $185.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.52. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS 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 prior year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 10.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Woodward by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 86,219 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,787,000 after buying an additional 10,908 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Woodward by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 119,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,410,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 28.6% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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.