Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Given New $201.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $159.00 to $201.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on WWD. Barclays increased their target price on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $158.22.

Woodward Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ WWD opened at $146.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.36. Woodward has a 12 month low of $91.42 and a 12 month high of $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.33 and a 200-day moving average of $137.38.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.13 million. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 21.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Woodward news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock worth $7,242,916. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 2.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter worth $698,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Woodward in the first quarter valued at $332,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 99.1% during the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 4,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Woodward by 5.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,711 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.