Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Given New $201.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $159.00 to $201.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four equities research 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 company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $158.22.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $148.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.24. Woodward has a one year low of $91.42 and a one year high of $160.79.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.13 million. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.10%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other 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.