Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target to $175.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $172.00 to $175.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 2.50% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.63.

Woodward Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WWD traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $170.74. 24,138 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 498,939. Woodward has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.02.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $1.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.36, for a total transaction of $641,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $3,008,109.72. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,547,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in Woodward during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,275,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 105.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.