WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Shares Down 0.4%

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) was down 0.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $224.17 and last traded at $225.22. Approximately 14,426 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 133,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $313.00 price target on shares of WD-40 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

WD-40 Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.76 and a 200 day moving average of $242.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $139.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.51 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.30% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. WD-40’s payout ratio is currently 70.26%.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In other news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman purchased 182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $272.42 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 3,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman purchased 182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $272.42 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 3,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven A. Brass bought 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $232.22 per share, with a total value of $100,319.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,771,424.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 942 shares of company stock worth $226,897. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WD-40

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDFC. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in WD-40 in the fourth quarter valued at about $510,000. Profit Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in WD-40 in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,892,000. Aviva PLC purchased a new position in WD-40 in the third quarter valued at about $586,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WD-40 by 48.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 55,725 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 18,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in WD-40 by 10.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,841 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

About WD-40

WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, precision pens, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bike-specific products.