Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,792 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 1.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,125,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $389,520,000 after purchasing an additional 25,648 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $285,283,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 671,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,603,000 after purchasing an additional 5,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 492,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 27.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 328,113 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,120,000 after purchasing an additional 70,598 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In related news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman bought 182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $272.42 per share, with a total value of $49,580.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 3,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Pendarvis bought 328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $234.75 per share, with a total value of $76,998.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,256.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman bought 182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $272.42 per share, with a total value of $49,580.44. Following the completion of the purchase, 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. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $313.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $231.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $256.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 46.20 and a beta of -0.06. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $181.38 and a 1 year high of $278.78.

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

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 70.26%.

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.