Barclays Boosts Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target to $175.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its target price raised by research analysts at Barclays from $140.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.82% from the stock’s previous close.

WWD has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors cut Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.13.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $176.45 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $151.70 and a 200-day moving average of $140.44. Woodward has a 12 month low of $105.18 and a 12 month high of $177.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,049.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,200 shares of company stock worth $8,244,976 over the last ninety days. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 34.7% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,230 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Woodward by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,741 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,430,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 3.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,173 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 97 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.