Truist Financial Raises Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target to $152.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective lifted by Truist Financial from $143.00 to $152.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WWD. StockNews.com cut Woodward from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $168.75.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $168.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.31. Woodward has a 52 week low of $105.18 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $710,923,000 after acquiring an additional 59,884 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,061,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Woodward by 12.0% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,377,000 after purchasing an additional 40,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 95.3% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.