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

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Director Gregg C. Sengstack sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $178.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $152.45 and its 200 day moving average is $140.70. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $105.18 and a fifty-two week high of $179.73.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.34. Woodward had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business had revenue of $835.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Woodward’s payout ratio is 17.48%.

Institutional Trading of Woodward

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Woodward in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 81.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Woodward from $159.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Woodward from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Woodward from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Woodward from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Woodward from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.13.

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.