WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.
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Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if you understand what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the key action surrounding WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC).
How have hedgies been trading WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 125% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC). Renaissance Technologies has a $17.3 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $2.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, initiated the largest position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC). Citadel Investment Group had 0.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new WDFC investors: Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Peter Rathjens Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
How have insiders been trading WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC). These stocks are Kraton Performance Polymers Inc (NYSE:KRA), OM Group, Inc. (NYSE:OMG), Quaker Chemical Corp (NYSE:KWR), Flotek Industries Inc (NYSE:FTK), and Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP). All of these stocks are in the specialty chemicals industry and their market caps are closest to WDFC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Kraton Performance Polymers Inc (NYSE:KRA) | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| OM Group, Inc. (NYSE:OMG) | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| Quaker Chemical Corp (NYSE:KWR) | 11 | 0 | 8 |
| Flotek Industries Inc (NYSE:FTK) | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) applies perfectly to this mantra.
