Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $294.00 at Truist Financial

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Truist Financial from $267.00 to $294.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WWD. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $232.25.

Woodward Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $6.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $251.56. The company had a trading volume of 530,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,736. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.23. Woodward has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $255.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,944,998.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock valued at $9,247,289. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. grew its position in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Woodward in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $120,220,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Woodward by 44,162.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 472,284 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,187,000 after buying an additional 471,217 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $31,187,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.