Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Lowered to $205.00 at Truist Financial

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Truist Financial from $229.00 to $205.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $187.00 price target on shares of Woodward and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $193.75.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $2.59 on Thursday, reaching $167.81. 412,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 496,243. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $179.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.89. Woodward has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,008,109.72. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC bought a new position in Woodward in the first quarter valued at about $417,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the technology company's stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,953 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY grew its position in shares of Woodward by 572.8% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,359 shares of the technology company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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.