Citigroup Inc. Purchases 7,077 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 65.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,958 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,077 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of WD-40 worth $4,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in WD-40 by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 145,462 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $37,512,000 after buying an additional 3,960 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 60.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the third quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in WD-40 during the third quarter worth about $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total transaction of $289,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,317,310.30. The trade was a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on WDFC. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $322.00 price target on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

WD-40 Price Performance

WD-40 stock traded down $2.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $274.35. 71,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 105,835. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.69 and a beta of -0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $268.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.18.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last issued 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). WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. The business had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.28%. WD-40's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

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.