Cerity Partners LLC Has $13.89 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 193,260 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,565 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $13,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in Fastenal by 440.7% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.91.

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Fastenal Trading Up 0.5 %

Fastenal stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.74. The stock had a trading volume of 770,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,091,255. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.88 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.43.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.56%.

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.