WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Director Sells $289,700.00 in Stock

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total transaction of $289,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,310.30. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

WD-40 Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDFC traded down $5.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $280.38. 91,735 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,614. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.10 and a beta of -0.08. WD-40 has a 12-month low of $211.03 and a 12-month high of $292.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $262.31 and a 200 day moving average of $246.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 1,131.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $411,374,000 after purchasing an additional 6,532 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the first quarter valued at approximately $20,491,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,180,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the second quarter valued at approximately $547,000. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WDFC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Company 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.