Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 89.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 692 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,659 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in WD-40 by 209.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in WD-40 by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 150,557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,537,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in WD-40 by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 73,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,730,000 after buying an additional 6,330 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in WD-40 in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,903,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in WD-40 by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,627,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $395,006,000 after buying an additional 16,763 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WD-40 Stock Down 0.6%

WDFC stock opened at $241.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.19 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. WD-40 has a 12 month low of $208.00 and a 12 month high of $292.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.11.

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

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 59.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In other news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer purchased 256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $222.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,044.48. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $907,363.76. This represents a 6.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WD-40 Company Profile

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.