Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Director Sells $1,002,060.00 in Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total value of $1,002,060.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,914,324.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $178.14 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.18 and a 52-week high of $179.73. The stock has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $835.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Woodward’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Woodward in the 4th quarter worth $84,157,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its position in Woodward by 61.9% during the third quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 490,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,893,000 after purchasing an additional 187,300 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Woodward by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 524,683 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,425,000 after buying an additional 143,410 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Woodward in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,627,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Woodward by 3,387.8% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,650,000 after buying an additional 75,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WWD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Woodward from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $148.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.13.

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.