D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases 7,874 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 43.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 7,874 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.19% of WD-40 worth $6,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in WD-40 during the 4th quarter worth $54,571,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in WD-40 in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,903,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in WD-40 in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,179,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 104,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $25,343,000 after acquiring an additional 37,247 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 456.4% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 41,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,127,000 after acquiring an additional 34,229 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC traded down $1.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $241.78. 5,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 100,780. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.26 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. WD-40 has a 1-year low of $208.00 and a 1-year high of $292.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $232.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.51.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $146.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.40 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The business's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. WD-40's payout ratio is 59.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $222.83 per share, with a total value of $57,044.48. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,072 shares in the company, valued at $907,363.76. This represents a 6.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson raised shares of WD-40 to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th.

WD-40 Company 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.