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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.67.

Woodward Price Performance

WWD opened at $176.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $167.60 and a 200-day moving average of $170.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. Woodward has a 1-year low of $129.46 and a 1-year high of $188.35.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 16.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.65, for a total transaction of $1,776,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,929.15. This trade represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. acquired a new position in Woodward in the third quarter worth approximately $99,000,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 94.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,735,000 after purchasing an additional 210,746 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 12.3% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $207,359,000 after purchasing an additional 147,856 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Woodward by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 17,072.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.