Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $255.00

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $229.00 to $255.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

WWD has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Woodward Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $243.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Woodward has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $244.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.68.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The technology company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.61 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 18.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 500 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $115,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,268 shares in the company, valued at $11,561,640. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total value of $2,310,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $9,035,789. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 8,976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $1,199,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 684.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Woodward by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 45,928 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,381,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Woodward by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,390 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.