Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Price

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.25.

Woodward Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded down $2.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.51. 731,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,810. 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 has a 1 year low of $144.45 and a 1 year high of $201.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.20.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $864,156.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. This trade represents a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,444. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,175,000 after purchasing an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Woodward by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $236,004,000 after acquiring an additional 38,774 shares during the period. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Woodward by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,133,000 after purchasing an additional 751,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Woodward by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is 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.