Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Cut to "Hold" at StockNews.com

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $174.67.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded down $2.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $161.32. The stock had a trading volume of 458,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 416,121. Woodward has a 12-month low of $126.31 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $847.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $853.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 27.6% in the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,460 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at $286,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,274 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,799,000 after purchasing an additional 10,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.5% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 27,288 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,680,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently 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.