WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Stock Price Up 3.3%

Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) traded up 3.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $242.09 and last traded at $240.90. 46,601 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 133,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $313.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Wednesday.

WD-40 Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.90 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.26.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $139.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.51 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 33.51% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. WD-40's payout ratio is presently 69.29%.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In related news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman purchased 182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $272.42 per share, with a total value of $49,580.44. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 3,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WD-40

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in WD-40 by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in WD-40 by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in WD-40 by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in WD-40 by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in WD-40 by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,399 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

About WD-40

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.