Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target to $172.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $156.00 to $172.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a buy 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 objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $168.75.

Woodward Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $167.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.31. Woodward has a one year low of $105.18 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Woodward will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,040. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $84,157,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its stake in Woodward by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 490,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,893,000 after acquiring an additional 187,300 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after acquiring an additional 143,410 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,627,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 3,387.8% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,231 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,650,000 after purchasing an additional 75,988 shares in the last quarter. 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.