Semanteon Capital Management LP Makes New $290,000 Investment in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in WD-40 by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in WD-40 by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,268 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in WD-40 by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $313.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven A. Brass bought 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $232.22 per share, for a total transaction of $100,319.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,547 shares in the company, valued at $4,771,424.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other WD-40 news, Director David Pendarvis acquired 328 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $234.75 per share, for a total transaction of $76,998.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,256.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven A. Brass acquired 432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $232.22 per share, with a total value of $100,319.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 20,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,771,424.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 942 shares of company stock valued at $226,897. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $225.52 on Friday. WD-40 has a fifty-two week low of $181.38 and a fifty-two week high of $278.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 45.01 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $249.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.40.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.01. The firm 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 32.30% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.26%.

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.