JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 24.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,711 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.40% of WD-40 worth $13,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,026 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in WD-40 by 2.8% in the 3rd 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. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in WD-40 by 173.2% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 4,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 2.9% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,079 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 37.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of WDFC traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $240.75. 231,358 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 122,906. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.11 and a beta of -0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $264.59 and a 200-day moving average of $256.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.47. WD-40 has a 52 week low of $211.03 and a 52 week high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $147.40 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from WD-40's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. WD-40's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

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.