Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas Cromwell Sells 5,000 Shares

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) COO Thomas Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.26, for a total value of $1,481,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares in the company, valued at $4,483,895.10. This represents a 24.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of WWD traded down $2.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $298.04. 567,773 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 525,519. Woodward, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.82 and a 12 month high of $304.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 47.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $261.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.63.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The business had revenue of $995.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $943.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Woodward’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Woodward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Woodward by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 463 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,036 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,769 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at about $2,340,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Woodward by 2.6% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 35,704 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,781,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WWD. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Woodward from $329.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.67.

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.