Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 813 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.10% of WD-40 worth $3,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 0.4% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $67,452,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 2.5% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 3,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 13.7% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 92,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,208,000 after purchasing an additional 11,112 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,310.30. The trade was a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $283.95 on Friday. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.57 and a beta of -0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $265.48 and a 200 day moving average of $248.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WDFC shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a 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.