Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on WWD. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.67.

Woodward Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of WWD opened at $179.29 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $129.46 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The firm has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.82 and its 200-day moving average is $170.87.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304 over the last ninety days. 1.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 11.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $2,547,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after buying an additional 59,290 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Woodward by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,734 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.