Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $197.38.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WWD. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,313 shares of company stock valued at $9,007,072 over the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,187,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,045,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $4.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $194.29. The company had a trading volume of 701,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,932. Woodward has a 12 month low of $134.82 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.85.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward's payout ratio 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.