Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $147.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $128.00 to $147.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Woodward from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. They set a buy rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Woodward in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. They set a buy rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $110.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $135.33.

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $130.42 on Friday. Woodward has a one year low of $88.30 and a one year high of $136.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $127.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.44.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The technology company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Woodward had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $777.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 23.34%.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, VP Christopher Fawzy sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $648,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Rajeev Bhalla acquired 399 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $125.07 per share, for a total transaction of $49,902.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,499.53. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher Fawzy sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $648,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward by 265.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 380 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. 79.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.