Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $175.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $173.13 and last traded at $173.13, with a volume of 55658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.83.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.13.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976 over the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,758,261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $783,872,000 after buying an additional 37,011 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,062,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,047,000 after buying an additional 62,897 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Woodward by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,061,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $84,157,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,425,000 after purchasing an additional 143,410 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 2.6 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $150.93 and a 200 day moving average of $140.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

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.