WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Stake Lifted by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,943 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.79% of WD-40 worth $97,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,154 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $134,911,000 after purchasing an additional 9,418 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in WD-40 by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 321,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $82,975,000 after buying an additional 5,381 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 307,097 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $67,452,000 after buying an additional 5,893 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WD-40 by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 211,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $54,574,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $37,512,000 after acquiring an additional 3,960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $322.00 price target on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at WD-40

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 transaction of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

WD-40 Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ WDFC traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $257.54. 117,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 104,305. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 50.40 and a beta of -0.07. 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 12 month low of $211.03 and a 12 month high of $292.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $271.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.07.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from WD-40's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. WD-40's payout ratio is 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.