Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 10,000 Shares

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,477 shares in the company, valued at $2,855,506.50. The trade was a 39.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Woodward Stock Performance

WWD stock traded up $0.49 during trading on Thursday, hitting $187.59. 135,269 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,719. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.45 and a 52 week high of $201.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $415,309,000 after acquiring an additional 110,569 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,175,000 after buying an additional 367,300 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Woodward by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,418,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $236,004,000 after buying an additional 38,774 shares in the last quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. grew its position in Woodward by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. now owns 1,328,765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $221,133,000 after buying an additional 751,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Woodward by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,302,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $216,771,000 after buying an additional 23,735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.