Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 10,000 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total value of $1,864,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,886,305.73. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Woodward Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded down $4.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.19. 706,238 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 450,575. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. 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.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WWD. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 4th quarter worth about $465,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 135.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after acquiring an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $2,448,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 12.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after acquiring an additional 6,917 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial upped their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays boosted 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.