Van ECK Associates Corp Has $9.21 Million Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 128,047 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,446 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 58,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,201,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 3,180 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $310,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 121.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 4,494 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $75.14. 2,299,942 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,997,798. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The firm has a market cap of $43.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.23.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Fastenal 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.