Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Director Gregg C. Sengstack Sells 6,000 Shares

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.01, for a total transaction of $1,002,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,324.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Woodward Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD traded up $4.46 during trading on Monday, reaching $173.29. 269,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 398,768. The stock has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $150.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.73. Woodward, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.18 and a 52-week high of $173.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.04 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 17.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WWD. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Woodward by 11.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,975 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Woodward by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 316,467 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,324,000 after buying an additional 27,119 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $460,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $501,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

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.