WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,502 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $1,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in WD-40 in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,903,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 28,039 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the fourth quarter worth $6,537,000. DF Dent & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 27.3% during the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 66,993 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,276,000 after purchasing an additional 14,358 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the fourth quarter valued at $3,217,000. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WD-40 Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $241.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.11. WD-40 has a 52 week low of $211.03 and a 52 week high of $292.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 46.33 and a beta of -0.10.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. WD-40’s payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

WD-40 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.