Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 88.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,110 shares of the company's stock after selling 353,508 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 21.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 205,720 shares of the company's stock worth $14,693,000 after purchasing an additional 36,673 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 110,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,866,000 after acquiring an additional 10,997 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Fastenal by 9.6% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,584 shares of the company's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter worth $9,132,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Fastenal
Fastenal Trading Up 3.0 %
FAST stock traded up $2.21 during trading on Monday, reaching $76.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,856,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,983. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.08 and a 200 day moving average of $75.65. 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 company has a market cap of $44.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Fastenal Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase 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 2.24%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.57%.
About Fastenal
(
Free Report)
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.
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