WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Shares Down 1.2%

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)’s share price dropped 1.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $227.00 and last traded at $227.00. Approximately 16,421 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 133,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

WD-40 Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 45.88 and a beta of -0.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.56 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. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.30% and a net margin of 12.19%. The firm had revenue of $139.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman purchased 182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $272.42 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.44. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 3,073 shares in the company, valued at $837,146.66. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman bought 182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $272.42 per share, with a total value of $49,580.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven A. Brass purchased 432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were purchased 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 owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,771,424.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 942 shares of company stock valued at $226,897. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 4th quarter valued at $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 acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 during the third quarter worth about $586,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $11,325,000 after buying an additional 18,205 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,481 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.