Thomas G. Cromwell Sells 7,913 Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $1,385,803.69. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,015,921.43. This represents a 40.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Woodward Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $169.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.86. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.31 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.38.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Woodward’s payout ratio is presently 16.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WWD. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Woodward by 3.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,173 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 290.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,946 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 5,913 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Woodward by 222.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 23,990 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after buying an additional 16,557 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Woodward by 6.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 28,741 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Woodward by 16.3% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 81,286 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,528,000 after acquiring an additional 11,418 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $186.00) on shares of Woodward in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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. Truist Financial raised Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.67.

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.