Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,603,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 20,570 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of WD-40 worth $316,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in WD-40 during the second quarter worth $36,563,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in WD-40 by 22,709.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 157,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,897,000 after acquiring an additional 156,693 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 333,505 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,069,000 after purchasing an additional 65,423 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 1,080.7% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 59,826 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,646,000 after purchasing an additional 54,759 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 11.9% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 501,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,365,000 after purchasing an additional 53,225 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on WD-40 in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WD-40 in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WD-40 news, Director David Pendarvis bought 424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.15 per share, with a total value of $104,791.60. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,840.70. The trade was a 6.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WD-40 Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $238.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.26 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. WD-40 Company has a 12-month low of $175.38 and a 12-month high of $253.48.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $154.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.10 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 14.42% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. WD-40 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.150 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.10%.

WD-40 Company Profile

WD-40 Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is best known for its flagship WD-40® Multi-Use Product, a water-displacing spray used for lubrication, rust prevention and cleaning. Since its introduction in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 brand has become a household and industrial staple. Over time, the company has broadened its portfolio to include complementary maintenance and cleaning brands such as 3-IN-ONE® oils, Lava® hand cleaners, Solvol® solvents, Spot Shot® stain removers and X-14® cleaning products.

WD-40 Company distributes its products in more than 176 countries through retail, industrial and automotive channels.