Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells $1,492,450.00 in Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.49, for a total transaction of $1,492,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 15,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,517,646.15. The trade was a 24.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Woodward Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of WWD stock opened at $303.45 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.82 and a 12 month high of $304.72. The stock has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.10.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $995.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $943.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.80 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Woodward in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $329.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 1,766.7% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 112 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc purchased a new position in Woodward during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.