Woodward shares slide 4.1% as investors appear to lock in gains ahead of upcoming earnings

Woodward, Inc. (WWD) is down 4.1% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move looks most consistent with a pullback after a strong run-up, with traders potentially taking profits and de-risking ahead of the company’s next earnings report. No single, company-specific negative headline clearly explains the drop, so positioning and near-term sentiment may be the bigger drivers.

Details:

Woodward recently scheduled its fiscal 2026 second-quarter earnings release and conference call, which can increase short-term volatility as investors adjust exposure into the event.

The company’s most recent quarterly update highlighted results that exceeded expectations and included higher full-year fiscal 2026 sales and earnings guidance, which likely contributed to earlier share strength and created room for profit-taking.

Recent sell-side coverage has emphasized aerospace-driven upside while also discussing decelerating growth assumptions versus the prior quarter, which can make the stock more sensitive to any “high bar” concerns into earnings.

This could also be because the broader aerospace/industrial group saw rotation today, amplifying a pullback in a stock that had been trading strongly.

Sources:

Woodward Investor Relations, Woodward Press Release, Investing.com

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$WWD Insider Trading Activity

$WWD insiders have traded $WWD stock on the open market 64 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 64 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $WWD stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

CHARLES P BLANKENSHIP (Chairman of the Board and CEO) has made 0 purchases and 43 sales selling 27,625 shares for an estimated $10,490,500.
THOMAS G CROMWELL (EVP and COO) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 30,000 shares for an estimated $8,913,900.
GREGG C SENGSTACK has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 7,000 shares for an estimated $2,105,302.
EILEEN P. PATERSON sold 5,200 shares for an estimated $1,966,379
JOHN D COHN has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 5,250 shares for an estimated $1,720,635.
SHAWN M MCLEVIGE (EVP and President, Aerospace) has made 0 purchases and 10 sales selling 1,850 shares for an estimated $711,088.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$WWD Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 309 institutional investors add shares of $WWD stock to their portfolio, and 263 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CAPITAL RESEARCH GLOBAL INVESTORS removed 1,444,088 shares (-76.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $436,576,684
FARALLON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC removed 621,973 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $188,034,877
FINDLAY PARK PARTNERS LLP added 395,726 shares (+136.2%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $119,635,884
NAYA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT UK LTD removed 392,520 shares (-28.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $118,666,646
ARTISAN PARTNERS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP added 334,333 shares (+45.7%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $101,075,552
UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 250,968 shares (-45.2%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $75,872,645
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA removed 247,816 shares (-79.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $74,919,733

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$WWD Government Contracts

We have seen $13,414,820 of award payments to $WWD over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

SERVOCYLINDER ASSEM: $2,482,000
DRIVE UNIT,HYDRAULI: $1,987,500
DRIVE UNIT,HYDRAULI: $1,984,960
DRIVE UNIT,HYDRAULI: $1,984,960
VIBRATION SUPPRESSO: $1,139,530

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard.

$WWD Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $WWD in the last several months. We have seen 4 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Goldman Sachs issued a "Buy" rating on 01/20/2026
Jefferies issued a "Buy" rating on 01/16/2026
UBS issued a "Buy" rating on 12/01/2025
Truist Securities issued a "Buy" rating on 11/25/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $WWD, check out Quiver Quantitative's $WWD forecast page.

$WWD Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $WWD recently. We have seen 7 analysts offer price targets for $WWD in the last 6 months, with a median target of $408.0.

Here are some recent targets:

David Strauss from Wells Fargo set a target price of $440.0 on 04/01/2026
Scott Deuschle from Deutsche Bank set a target price of $445.0 on 02/09/2026
Noah Poponak from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $408.0 on 02/04/2026
Michael Ciarmoli from Truist Securities set a target price of $404.0 on 02/03/2026
Gautam Khanna from TD Cowen set a target price of $390.0 on 02/03/2026
Gavin Parsons from UBS set a target price of $417.0 on 02/03/2026
Sheila Kahyaoglu from Jefferies set a target price of $375.0 on 01/16/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.