Brokerages Set Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Target Price at $152.89

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $152.89.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Woodward from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Woodward from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $105.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th.

Woodward Stock Down 3.5 %

WWD traded down $5.51 on Tuesday, reaching $152.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 546,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,456. Woodward has a 1 year low of $91.42 and a 1 year high of $160.79. The business's 50 day moving average is $144.86 and its 200 day moving average is $136.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.13 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 9.50%. The business's revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Woodward's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,540,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. 1.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 107,241 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,528,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth $202,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $198,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth $3,131,000. 81.18% of the stock is currently 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.