Insider Selling: Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,886,305.73. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD traded down $4.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $183.29. 381,898 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,286. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $186.06 and its 200 day moving average is $176.78. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.45 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64. 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 (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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.