WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Holdings Cut by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 313 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in WD-40 by 6.4% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 311,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,257,000 after buying an additional 18,812 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in WD-40 by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 152,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,005,000 after purchasing an additional 3,334 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 133,356 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,103,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 0.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 90,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,469,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 10.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,841 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,162,000 after buying an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven A. Brass acquired 432 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $232.22 per share, with a total value of $100,319.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,771,424.34. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other WD-40 news, CEO Steven A. Brass bought 432 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $232.22 per share, for a total transaction of $100,319.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,771,424.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman purchased 182 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $272.42 per share, for a total transaction 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 942 shares of company stock worth $226,897. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

WD-40 Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $225.52 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $249.53 and a 200-day moving average of $242.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.01 and a beta of -0.06. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $181.38 and a twelve month high of $278.78.

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

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. WD-40’s payout ratio is 70.26%.

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.