JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 10,711 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 24.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,711 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $13,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in WD-40 in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 28.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 240.9% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 467 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,312,563.02. This trade represents a 8.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $240.75 on Friday. WD-40 has a 12 month low of $211.03 and a 12 month high of $292.36. 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 50 day moving average of $264.59 and a 200-day moving average of $256.42. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 47.11 and a beta of -0.04.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. The firm had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WDFC shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 target price 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.

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.