Man Group plc Trims Holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Man Group plc decreased its stake in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 42.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,428 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 57,728 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.58% of WD-40 worth $19,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in WD-40 by 525.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 3,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer bought 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $907,363.76. This trade represents a 6.71% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson raised WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th.

WD-40 Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $245.66 on Friday. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $208.00 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 47.06 and a beta of 0.17.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $146.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 59.97%.

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.