Trexquant Investment LP Grows Stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 90.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,726 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.10% of WD-40 worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in WD-40 by 1.3% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in WD-40 by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 3,932 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its stake in WD-40 by 7.8% in the third quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,268 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In other news, CEO Steven A. Brass purchased 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $232.22 per share, with a total value of $100,319.04. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,771,424.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other WD-40 news, CEO Steven A. Brass purchased 432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $232.22 per share, for a total transaction of $100,319.04. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,771,424.34. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer acquired 213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $232.83 per share, with a total value of $49,592.79. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,676 shares in the company, valued at $623,053.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 973 shares of company stock valued at $226,910 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WD-40 Stock Performance

WDFC opened at $231.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.13 and a beta of -0.02. WD-40 has a 1-year low of $182.53 and a 1-year high of $278.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

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

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. WD-40’s payout ratio is 70.26%.

WD-40 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.