New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,397 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 348 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of WD-40 worth $5,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in WD-40 during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth $53,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 1,805.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 362 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 122.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $313.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Wednesday.

WD-40 Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $236.29 on Friday. WD-40 has a one year low of $175.79 and a one year high of $278.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $256.72 and its 200-day moving average is $240.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.01. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.30% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business had revenue of $139.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Pendarvis purchased 328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $234.75 per share, for a total transaction of $76,998.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,256.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other WD-40 news, Director David Pendarvis acquired 328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $234.75 per share, with a total value of $76,998.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,256.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman acquired 182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $272.42 per share, with a total value of $49,580.44. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 3,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.