StockNews.com Downgrades Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) to Hold

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

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

Woodward Price Performance

Woodward stock opened at $176.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.82 and its 200 day moving average is $170.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Woodward has a 52-week low of $129.46 and a 52-week high of $188.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Woodward news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $1,745,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,008,669.50. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 27,913 shares of company stock worth $4,907,304 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after buying an additional 110,569 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $240,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,946 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Woodward by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,321,000 after purchasing an additional 59,290 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,000,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.