WD-40 Company $WDFC Stock: ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Position

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,370 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 11,674 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $8,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WD-40 during the 3rd quarter worth about $136,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in WD-40 by 841.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,146 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 26,733 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,714 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of WD-40 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.00.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of WDFC stock opened at $233.00 on Thursday. WD-40 Company has a fifty-two week low of $175.38 and a fifty-two week high of $298.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $205.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32 and a beta of 0.27.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $176.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.07 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that WD-40 Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 19th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 19th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 67.11%.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, insider Patricia Olsem sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.72, for a total value of $46,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 4,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,609.28. The trade was a 4.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WD-40 Profile

WD-40 Company develops and markets maintenance, cleaning and homecare products for consumers, professional tradespeople and industrial users. Its best-known product is WD-40 Multi-Use Product, a spray designed to displace moisture, protect metal, loosen rusted parts and lubricate equipment. The company also offers WD-40 Specialist products for specific maintenance applications and the 3-IN-ONE line of lubricants.

The company’s homecare and cleaning portfolio has included brands such as X-14, 2000 Flushes and Carpet Fresh.