NewEdge Advisors LLC Grows Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 47.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,571,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in WD-40 during the fourth quarter valued at $17,903,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in WD-40 by 309.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after buying an additional 28,039 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WD-40 by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 81,634 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $19,811,000 after buying an additional 27,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in WD-40 during the fourth quarter valued at $6,537,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In other news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer acquired 256 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $222.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,044.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,072 shares in the company, valued at $907,363.76. The trade was a 6.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th.

WD-40 Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $229.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.90 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.75. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $208.00 and a 1 year high of $292.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $233.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.22.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $146.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.40 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.97%.

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.