Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 12,943 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 3.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 378,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,943 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $97,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in WD-40 by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in WD-40 by 28.9% during the 3rd 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, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in WD-40 by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WDFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,310.30. This represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WD-40 Stock Down 2.0 %

WDFC stock opened at $259.08 on Thursday. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 50.70 and a beta of -0.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.07.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. WD-40’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.58%.

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.