Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Reaches New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $241.70 and last traded at $237.65, with a volume of 783788 shares. The stock had previously closed at $238.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.88.

Woodward Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.51.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $883.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 16.86%. Woodward's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.38, for a total transaction of $1,071,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,878 shares in the company, valued at $15,623,585.64. This represents a 6.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,958,480. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,550 shares of company stock valued at $9,677,177 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 2.3% during the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,193,238 shares of the technology company's stock worth $400,244,000 after buying an additional 49,481 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $236,004,000 after purchasing an additional 38,774 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $216,771,000 after purchasing an additional 23,735 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.