Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 10,000 Shares

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.99, for a total transaction of $1,799,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,864.89. The trade was a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $181.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.38. Woodward, Inc. has a one year low of $131.12 and a one year high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Woodward by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after buying an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Woodward by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after buying an additional 59,290 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,679,000 after acquiring an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter worth $99,000,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WWD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 price target (up previously from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

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.