Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New $400,000 Investment in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDFC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of WDFC opened at $283.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.57 and a beta of -0.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $265.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.06. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $211.03 and a 1 year high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.11). WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,310.30. The trade was a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.