Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Sells $1,864,900.00 in Stock

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.49, for a total transaction of $1,864,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,886,305.73. This represents a 39.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of Woodward stock opened at $183.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.45 and a 12 month high of $201.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.61.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Woodward’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WWD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Woodward from $193.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Woodward from $216.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.38.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Woodward by 28.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its position in Woodward by 2.1% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Woodward by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,603 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 5,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter valued at $270,000. 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.