Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 10,000 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,855,506.50. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD traded up $4.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $189.83. The company had a trading volume of 124,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,692. The company's 50-day moving average is $185.66 and its 200-day moving average is $175.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.45 and a twelve month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

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Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Woodward's payout ratio is 18.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.38.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WWD. KBC Group NV grew its position in Woodward by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648 shares of the technology company's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 3.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,758 shares of the technology company's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 14.5% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 86,219 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,908 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 119,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,410,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,408,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 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.