WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Director William B. Noble Sells 1,000 Shares

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,310.30. The trade was a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

WD-40 Stock Performance

WDFC stock opened at $279.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. WD-40 has a 12-month low of $211.03 and a 12-month high of $292.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 54.60 and a beta of -0.08.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released 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). WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 68.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson increased their price objective 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WD-40

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 1,131.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 3,733 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in WD-40 by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $411,374,000 after purchasing an additional 6,532 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter valued at about $20,491,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,180,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $547,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

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.