Blue Trust Inc. Has $142,000 Holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 39.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. State Street Corp lifted its position in WD-40 by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,154 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $134,911,000 after purchasing an additional 9,418 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 378,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $97,524,000 after acquiring an additional 12,943 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 321,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 211,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,574,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in WD-40 by 2.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WDFC. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

WD-40 Stock Up 0.2 %

WDFC opened at $239.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.90 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.94. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $153.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,310.30. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.