Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 5,381 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 2.38% of WD-40 worth $82,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in WD-40 by 152.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,605,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 39,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 20,278 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 11,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,007,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.98, for a total transaction of $205,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,312,563.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WDFC. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDFC traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $262.72. The stock had a trading volume of 17,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,414. WD-40 has a 52 week low of $211.03 and a 52 week high of $278.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.29 and a beta of -0.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. WD-40’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s payout ratio is 68.88%.

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.