Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys 1,284 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1,459.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the fourth quarter valued at $593,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,538,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 385,779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,638,000 after purchasing an additional 7,664 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in WD-40 by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 23,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,824,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in WD-40 by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 price target on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

WD-40 Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of WDFC stock opened at $245.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. WD-40 has a 12 month low of $211.03 and a 12 month high of $292.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.95 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.65.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.40 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. WD-40’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. WD-40’s payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

WD-40 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.