State Street Corp Buys 9,418 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

State Street Corp increased its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 523,154 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,418 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 3.86% of WD-40 worth $134,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 41.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in WD-40 by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in WD-40 by 41.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 463 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,317,310.30. This represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

WD-40 Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of WDFC traded down $4.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $266.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 57,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,273. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.16 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $270.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.44. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. WD-40's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from WD-40's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.