WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Director Sells $205,584.00 in Stock

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.98, for a total value of $205,584.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,312,563.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

WD-40 Trading Up 1.7 %

WDFC stock traded up $4.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $268.73. 14,549 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 106,991. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.70 and a beta of -0.08. WD-40 has a 52-week low of $207.95 and a 52-week high of $278.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $257.50 and a 200-day moving average of $242.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.47.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.11). WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. The firm had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDFC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson raised their price target on WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Institutional Trading of WD-40

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.9% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 21,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,647,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 4.3% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 43,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 28.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in WD-40 in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

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.