Brokerages Set Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target at $197.38

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $197.38.

WWD has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD opened at $182.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward has a 12-month low of $144.45 and a 12-month high of $201.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $185.92 and a 200-day moving average of $176.89. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock worth $5,215,444 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 28.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,603 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 5,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $270,000. 81.18% of the stock is 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.