Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Cut to $193.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $197.00 to $193.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on WWD. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.78.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $182.11 on Wednesday. Woodward has a 12 month low of $131.69 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.35. The company has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Woodward by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Woodward in the second quarter worth about $225,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 19.5% during the second quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the second quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 136.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 68,877 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,011,000 after purchasing an additional 39,732 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.