Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $190.73 on Wednesday. Woodward has a one year low of $135.93 and a one year high of $201.64. The company has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $180.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Woodward will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $1,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,684.94. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,325.91. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,400 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,768 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Woodward by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,170,000 after buying an additional 570,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $2,547,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $2,448,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the 3rd quarter worth $1,698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.