Analysts Set Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Price Target at $268.67

Shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $268.6667.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Alembic Global Advisors raised Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total value of $427,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,121,680.16. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Woodward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Woodward by 189.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Woodward by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Woodward by 32.5% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 220 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 81.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WWD opened at $247.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.50. Woodward has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $267.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Woodward’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.500-6.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

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.