Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 643 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,343 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $82,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 2.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,893 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in WD-40 by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 145,462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,512,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in WD-40 by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WDFC opened at $273.81 on Friday. 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. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.58 and a beta of -0.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $269.21 and its 200-day moving average is $251.87.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WDFC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.98, for a total transaction of $205,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,999 shares in the company, valued at $2,312,563.02. This trade represents a 8.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WD-40 Company 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.