Thomas Cromwell Sells 5,000 Shares of Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.49, for a total transaction of $1,492,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 15,135 shares in the company, valued at $4,517,646.15. This trade represents a 24.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Woodward Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WWD traded up $1.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $303.30. 170,505 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 524,753. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.91. The stock has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02. Woodward, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year high of $304.72.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $995.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $943.15 million. Woodward had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 17.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

Woodward announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Woodward during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $201,555,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $184,721,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Woodward by 122.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 905,578 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $228,849,000 after purchasing an additional 497,722 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Woodward by 1,086.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 330,514 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,524,000 after purchasing an additional 302,666 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth $73,406,000. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WWD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $329.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Woodward from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.67.

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.