Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Lowered to $193.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $197.00 to $193.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WWD. 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $226.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.78.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of Woodward stock traded down $2.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.08. 34,797 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 411,478. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a 52 week low of $131.69 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $173.80 and its 200-day moving average is $169.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,072 over the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 110,569 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,946 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $219,321,000 after purchasing an additional 59,290 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Woodward by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 992,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,170,000 after purchasing an additional 570,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Woodward by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.