Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target Raised to $201.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $159.00 to $201.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Woodward from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $158.22.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ WWD opened at $147.49 on Tuesday. Woodward has a 52-week low of $91.42 and a 52-week high of $160.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.65. The company has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 21.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total value of $5,494,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Fawzy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,540,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $295,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,810 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $698,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Woodward in the 1st quarter worth about $332,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 99.1% in the 1st quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 4,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares in the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.