LPL Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 23.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the first quarter valued at about $53,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 1,805.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 362 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 57.3% in the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WDFC shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on WD-40 from $256.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on WD-40 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

WD-40 Stock Up 1.5 %

WD-40 stock opened at $224.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.55 and a beta of -0.15. WD-40 has a 52 week low of $157.52 and a 52 week high of $234.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $208.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21. The company had revenue of $140.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. WD-40’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 20th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 19th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

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.