Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,561 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,733 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $15,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $522,558,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $101,183,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 301.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,478,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,445 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have issued reports on FAST. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.45.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Fastenal
Fastenal Stock Up 1.0 %
Fastenal stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $81.46. 1,773,716 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,086,814. The company has a market capitalization of $46.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50 day moving average is $75.56 and its 200 day moving average is $76.37. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.
Fastenal Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 87.56%.
Fastenal Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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