Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $176.35 on Friday. Woodward has a 1 year low of $144.13 and a 1 year high of $201.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $184.29 and a 200-day moving average of $174.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 16.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other Woodward news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $864,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,278,157. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Woodward by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 27,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,680,000 after buying an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Woodward by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,274 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,799,000 after buying an additional 10,080 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $286,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Woodward by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,460 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.