Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $8,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 80.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 69,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 31,055 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in WD-40 by 309.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after buying an additional 28,039 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 27.3% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 66,993 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,276,000 after acquiring an additional 14,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 378,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,524,000 after acquiring an additional 12,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 13.7% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 92,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,208,000 after acquiring an additional 11,112 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total transaction of $289,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,310.30. The trade was a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

WD-40 Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $249.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.91 and a beta of -0.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $270.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.61. WD-40 has a 12-month low of $211.03 and a 12-month high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. WD-40’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.58%.

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.