Achmea Investment Management B.V. Reduces Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. decreased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,321 shares of the company's stock after selling 111,545 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $11,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $873,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in Fastenal by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company's stock worth $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company's stock worth $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company's stock worth $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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Fastenal Stock Up 0.0 %

FAST traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $76.09. 2,816,094 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,255,847. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.82 and a 200 day moving average of $75.41. The firm has a market cap of $43.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company's fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.