Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $117.00 to $100.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Woodward traded as low as $87.44 and last traded at $93.29, with a volume of 1698968 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.79.
A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WWD. Truist Financial lowered Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Cowen cut their price target on Woodward from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. Finally, Cowen cut their price target on Woodward from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.25.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Thomas A. Gendron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.35, for a total value of $1,023,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Woodward news, Director Daniel G. Korte purchased 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $104.83 per share, with a total value of $198,757.68. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at $198,757.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas A. Gendron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.35, for a total value of $1,023,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,796 shares of company stock valued at $287,428. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Woodward
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WWD. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Woodward by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,749,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $718,131,000 after buying an additional 768,984 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Woodward by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,134,296 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $266,595,000 after buying an additional 621,559 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Woodward by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,759,615 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $162,746,000 after buying an additional 153,721 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Woodward by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,445,893 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,267,000 after buying an additional 18,752 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Woodward by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,025,143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $112,212,000 after buying an additional 85,343 shares during the period. 80.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Woodward Stock Down 11.0 %
The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.20. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 3.61.
Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $614.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Woodward Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.04%.
Woodward Company Profile
Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates through 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.