Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $229.00 to $255.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the technology company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.01% from the stock's previous close.

WWD has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Woodward and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock traded up $4.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $247.55. 725,073 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,140. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.14. Woodward has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $247.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.99, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In other news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,958,480. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,944,998.15. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,250 shares of company stock valued at $9,035,789 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Woodward by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

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.