Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Given New $205.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $193.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the technology company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.00% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.24. 575,015 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,907. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $179.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a twelve month low of $134.82 and a twelve month high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company earned $1.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total transaction of $430,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,093,275.35. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,313 shares of company stock valued at $9,007,072. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $99,000,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Woodward by 135.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,187,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $20,045,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Company Profile

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.