Insider Selling: Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $1,818,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,275.35. This represents a 46.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Woodward Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ WWD opened at $182.12 on Wednesday. Woodward, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.12 and a twelve month high of $201.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.39 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WWD shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Naya Capital Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at $99,000,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 94.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,735,000 after purchasing an additional 210,746 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Woodward by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,421,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,309,000 after purchasing an additional 110,569 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the second 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 period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.