Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 7,913 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $1,385,803.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,015,921.43. This represents a 40.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock traded down $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.55. 282,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,619. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.31 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $167.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Woodward by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WWD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of 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 raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.67.

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.