Millennium Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC has decreased its stake in WD-40 Company by 16.9%, owning 131,415 shares worth approximately $32 million after selling 26,741 shares in the first quarter.
• WD-40's recent earnings report indicated $1.54 earnings per share (EPS), surpassing expectations of $1.40, with a revenue of $156.92 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 59.21%.

Millennium Management LLC reduced its position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 26,741 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.97% of WD-40 worth $32,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in WD-40 by 1,767.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 448,180 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $109,356,000 after buying an additional 424,183 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in WD-40 by 28,448.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 114,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,863,000 after buying an additional 113,792 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at $23,556,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in WD-40 by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $39,572,000 after buying an additional 89,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at $13,723,000. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson dropped their target price on WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WD-40 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.00.

WD-40 Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC traded up $2.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.71. 138,363 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 96,674. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.84. WD-40 Company has a 52-week low of $206.22 and a 52-week high of $292.36. The company's 50-day moving average is $217.64 and its 200-day moving average is $229.81.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.23% and a net margin of 14.13%.The company had revenue of $156.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. WD-40's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.