StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD)

Research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WWD. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $88.00 to $93.00 in a report on Monday, January 9th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Woodward from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Woodward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group started coverage on shares of Woodward in a research report on Monday, February 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Woodward currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Woodward Stock Down 2.5 %

WWD stock opened at $92.34 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.73. Woodward has a 12 month low of $79.26 and a 12 month high of $129.12. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.11). Woodward had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 6.95%. The firm had revenue of $619.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $599.88 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald M. Sega sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $208,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,656. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Charles P. Blankenship acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.61 per share, for a total transaction of $48,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,523 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,940.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald M. Sega sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $208,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,656. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Woodward by 653.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,309,248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002,572 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Woodward by 15.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,749,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $718,131,000 after buying an additional 768,984 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 41.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,134,296 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $266,595,000 after buying an additional 621,559 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Woodward during the fourth quarter worth about $23,812,000. Finally, Eaton Vance Management boosted its stake in Woodward by 63.4% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 580,570 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,519,000 after buying an additional 225,198 shares during the period. 81.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Woodward

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Woodward, Inc engages in the provision of control system solutions and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. It operates through the following segments: Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment designs, manufactures and services systems and products for the management of fuel, air and combustion and motion control.