Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $195.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $195.00.

A number of brokerages recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 target price on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $205.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $536,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,216.80. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,700. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $465,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 105.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,275,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,286 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,712,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ WWD opened at $209.79 on Wednesday. Woodward has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $210.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

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.