Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

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

Woodward Trading Up 2.0 %

WWD opened at $176.05 on Friday. Woodward has a 1-year low of $129.46 and a 1-year high of $188.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $167.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $1,385,803.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,015,921.43. This represents a 40.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock worth $4,907,304. 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 WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,000,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Woodward by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,735,000 after acquiring an additional 210,746 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Woodward by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,345,438 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $207,359,000 after acquiring an additional 147,856 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 raised its position in Woodward by 17,072.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,760 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,165,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is currently 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.