Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lowered its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,773 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,882 shares during the quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $873,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% in the third 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 period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on 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 lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.91.

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Fastenal Stock Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ FAST traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $73.69. 3,637,311 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,947,749. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $74.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.19. The company has a market cap of $42.26 billion, a PE ratio of 36.66, 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 current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

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.