Key Points
- Woodward COO Thomas Cromwell sold 5,000 shares on December 15 at an average price of $297.88 for proceeds of $1.489M, reducing his stake by 24.83% to 15,135 shares (≈$4.51M) per an SEC filing.
- Woodward recently reported stronger-than-expected results (Q EPS $2.09 vs $1.83 est., revenue $995.3M vs $943.2M), set FY2026 guidance of 7.50–8.00 EPS, and its board authorized a $1.8B share buyback (≈11.6% of shares) amid largely positive analyst ratings and a consensus target of $286.67.
Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) COO Thomas Cromwell sold 5,000 shares of Woodward stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.88, for a total value of $1,489,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,508,413.80. This trade represents a 24.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.
Woodward Stock Performance
NASDAQ:WWD opened at $294.42 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $271.50 and its 200 day moving average is $255.10. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $304.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.08.
Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 24th. The technology company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.26. Woodward had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 17.68%. The company had revenue of $995.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. Woodward's quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Woodward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.
Woodward declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.80 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Institutional Trading of Woodward
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 1,766.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 112 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc purchased a new stake in Woodward in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
WWD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Woodward from $329.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Woodward in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Woodward from $294.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Woodward from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $281.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Woodward from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.67.
Read Our Latest Analysis on WWD
About Woodward
(
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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.
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