WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $97,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,913,000 after purchasing an additional 10,711 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 365.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,841 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,801 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 378,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $97,524,000 after purchasing an additional 12,943 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDFC. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,310.30. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $240.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.11 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $264.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.16. WD-40 has a 1-year low of $211.03 and a 1-year high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its 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 company had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.40 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. WD-40’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.