Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) Given New $201.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) had its price target increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $159.00 to $201.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WWD. StockNews.com cut shares of Woodward from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $165.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Woodward from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Woodward from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $158.22.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD opened at $148.89 on Tuesday. Woodward has a twelve month low of $91.42 and a twelve month high of $160.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.36.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. Woodward had a net margin of 9.50% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The firm had revenue of $786.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Woodward will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.10%.

Insider Transactions at Woodward

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 38,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.98, for a total transaction of $5,494,626.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,680,049.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total value of $208,290.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,934.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,916. Corporate insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWD. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Woodward in the third quarter valued at about $4,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Woodward by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,721,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $710,923,000 after buying an additional 59,884 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,061,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Woodward by 12.0% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,377,000 after buying an additional 40,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 95.3% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

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.