Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 4,775 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 42.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,026 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.12% of WD-40 worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WDFC. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 84,829 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $21,876,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in WD-40 by 28.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in WD-40 by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 211,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $54,574,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 24.3% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,193 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WDFC. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $322.00 price target on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of WDFC traded up $2.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $286.49. 98,610 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 105,275. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.48 and a beta of -0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $265.48 and a 200 day moving average of $249.16. WD-40 has a one year low of $211.03 and a one year high of $292.36.

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

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

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.