Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $209.00 to $228.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Woodward traded as high as $201.64 and last traded at $196.05, with a volume of 584700 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $179.29.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $226.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Woodward in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.67.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In related news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,669.50. 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 can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,304. 1.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at $99,000,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 94.2% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Woodward by 4.8% in 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Woodward by 17,072.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,165,000 after buying an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after buying an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.14 and a 200-day moving average of $170.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s payout ratio is 16.72%.

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.