Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives $197.38 Average Price Target from Analysts

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $197.38.

WWD has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,093,275.35. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $124,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $186,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 164,140 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,316,000 after buying an additional 26,249 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $4.46 on Friday, hitting $184.54. 256,150 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,078. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $183.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.77. Woodward has a 1-year low of $142.71 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.76%.

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.