WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,617,462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 3,094 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of WD-40 worth $386,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 314,362 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $75,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,142,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 152,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,005,000 after acquiring an additional 3,334 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 136,121 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,697,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Stock Up 0.9 %

WDFC opened at $221.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.46. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 44.14 and a beta of -0.07. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $182.87 and a 1 year high of $278.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.27.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $139.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.51 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 32.30%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $313.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In other news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer acquired 213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $232.83 per share, with a total value of $49,592.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $623,053.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other WD-40 news, Director David Pendarvis bought 328 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $234.75 per share, for a total transaction of $76,998.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,256.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer purchased 213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $232.83 per share, with a total value of $49,592.79. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,053.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 973 shares of company stock valued at $226,910 over the last 90 days. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.