Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) CEO Sells $565,582.50 in Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) CEO Charles P. Blankenship sold 2,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.85, for a total transaction of $565,582.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 64,739 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,998.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Woodward Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $234.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $236.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $192.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.51.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $883.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.61 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WWD. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 401 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.2% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,649 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 82 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.