Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 66,900 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Nicholas Company Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,156,320 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,900 shares during the period. Fastenal comprises about 1.3% of Nicholas Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Nicholas Company Inc. owned about 0.20% of Fastenal worth $83,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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Fastenal Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of FAST traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $76.07. 1,922,467 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,917,805. 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.41. The company has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

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

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.