Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Woodward's stock rating has been downgraded from "strong-buy" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, with other analysts also adjusting their ratings and price objectives.
• The company reported earnings of $1.76 per share, surpassing estimates, and saw an 8.0% year-over-year revenue growth, indicating solid financial performance.
• Insider selling activity has occurred recently, with executives reducing their stock positions, potentially indicating a cautious outlook despite the company's strong performance.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research lowered Woodward from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.11.

Woodward Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WWD stock opened at $238.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $249.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.43. Woodward has a 1 year low of $146.82 and a 1 year high of $267.45.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,096 shares of company stock valued at $759,060 in the last 90 days. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 2.3% during the 1st 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Woodward by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,092,257 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $199,326,000 after purchasing an additional 51,873 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Woodward by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 869,117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $213,012,000 after purchasing an additional 15,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $201,555,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Woodward by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 711,804 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $174,458,000 after purchasing an additional 31,434 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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