Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Price Target Cut by Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered Woodward’s price target from $440 to $430 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying approximately 31% upside from the stock’s $328.37 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Woodward holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $414.33, despite some recent downgrades to “hold.”
• Woodward reported quarterly EPS of $2.52, beating estimates of $2.44, while revenue rose 21.2% year over year to $1.11 billion. Institutional investors own approximately 81.18% of the company.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $440.00 to $430.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential upside of 30.95% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WWD. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Woodward from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Woodward in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $404.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $414.33.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $1.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $328.37. 112,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 708,336. Woodward has a 1-year low of $244.69 and a 1-year high of $450.92. The company has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business's 50 day moving average is $351.76 and its 200-day moving average is $370.90.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.08. Woodward had a return on equity of 21.89% and a net margin of 13.17%.The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Woodward's revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.300-9.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Woodward will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Shawn McLevige sold 2,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.82, for a total transaction of $767,163.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,428.36. This trade represents a 40.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,984,684,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 12.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 904,404 shares of the technology company's stock worth $323,705,000 after buying an additional 100,465 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Woodward by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,065,294 shares of the technology company's stock worth $322,060,000 after buying an additional 334,333 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Woodward during the second quarter worth $303,698,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Woodward in the fourth quarter valued at $251,365,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

About Woodward

Woodward, Inc is a designer, manufacturer and service provider of control systems and components for the aerospace and energy industries. The company develops technologies that help regulate the flow of fuel, air and power in aircraft engines, industrial engines and other energy systems.

Woodward's aerospace products include engine controls, fuel metering systems, actuation systems, air-management components and electric power systems used in commercial aircraft, business jets, military aircraft and other aerospace applications.

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