Natixis Advisors LLC Has $21.88 Million Stock Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 84,829 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $21,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $411,374,000 after purchasing an additional 6,532 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in WD-40 by 1.7% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 321,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,975,000 after buying an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 307,097 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,452,000 after buying an additional 5,893 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 211,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,574,000 after buying an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 142,222 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,238,000 after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

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

WD-40 Price Performance

WDFC stock opened at $278.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.53 and a beta of -0.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $263.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.47. WD-40 has a 52-week low of $211.03 and a 52-week high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.11). WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 price target on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday.

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.