Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $300.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.41% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.67.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $257.72 on Friday. Woodward has a 12 month low of $146.82 and a 12 month high of $267.45. The company has a market cap of $15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.57.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 2,314.3% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Woodward by 189.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.