Prospera Financial Services Inc Makes New $227,000 Investment in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDFC. DA Davidson reiterated 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 price target on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total transaction of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,310.30. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $286.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.48 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.48 and a 200 day simple 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. WD-40’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s payout ratio is currently 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.