Insider Selling: Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells $641,388.00 in Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total value of $641,388.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,008,109.72. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Woodward Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $183.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.45 and a 1-year high of $201.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.76%.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WWD. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

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.