Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $172.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $156.00 to $172.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

WWD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $163.89.

Woodward Stock Up 7.5 %

WWD stock opened at $162.36 on Tuesday. Woodward has a twelve month low of $95.60 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.01 and a 200 day moving average of $138.67.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.10%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Woodward by 36.5% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,216 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 5,407 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter valued at about $336,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 227,063 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,995,000 after acquiring an additional 5,275 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Woodward by 2.4% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,682,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Woodward by 34.7% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.