Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $1.68 Million Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in WD-40 during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in WD-40 by 57.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 216 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in WD-40 during the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Price Performance

WD-40 stock opened at $264.40 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $258.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 51.74 and a beta of -0.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.70. WD-40 has a one year low of $208.70 and a one year high of $278.78.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is 68.88%.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.98, for a total value of $205,584.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,312,563.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.