GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Lowers Stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC trimmed its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDFC. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 31,055 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 28,039 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 66,993 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,276,000 after acquiring an additional 14,358 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 valued at $97,524,000 after acquiring an additional 12,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in WD-40 by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,913,000 after purchasing an additional 10,711 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WDFC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WD-40 Price Performance

WDFC opened at $234.95 on Monday. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.01 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.28.

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

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. WD-40’s payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

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.