Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target to $172.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the technology company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price points to a potential upside of 2.60% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.25.

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Woodward Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $1.29 on Tuesday, hitting $167.64. 369,587 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,990. Woodward has a 52-week low of $144.45 and a 52-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. The stock has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50-day moving average is $182.18 and its 200 day moving average is $176.98.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Woodward by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company's stock worth $236,004,000 after buying an additional 38,774 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock worth $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $216,771,000 after acquiring an additional 23,735 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.