Northern Trust Corp Lowers Stock Position in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in WD-40 Company by 3.3%, owning approximately 155,636 shares valued at around $37.98 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in WD-40, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its position by an extraordinary 28,448%.
• WD-40 reported earnings per share of $1.54 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, but its revenue slightly missed analyst estimates, coming in at $156.92 million.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its stake in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.15% of WD-40 worth $37,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. Corient IA LLC purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth $244,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 80,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $19,690,000 after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth $508,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 522 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $290.00.

WD-40 Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of WDFC stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $213.23. 6,024 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 143,542. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. WD-40 Company has a 12-month low of $208.00 and a 12-month high of $292.36. The company's 50-day moving average price is $221.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $231.27.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $156.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.60 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 31.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's payout ratio is 59.21%.

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.