Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,153 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,426 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $873,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company's stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company's stock worth $26,373,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during 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. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,573,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,914,154. The company's 50 day moving average price is $74.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.46. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $43.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

About Fastenal

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.