Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,229,900 shares of the company's stock after selling 765,556 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.91% of Fastenal worth $376,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,985 shares of the company's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company's stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.
Fastenal Stock Performance
Shares of FAST traded up $4.85 on Friday, reaching $80.64. 7,561,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,091,608. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $75.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.37. The stock has a market cap of $46.24 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, 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. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Fastenal Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 87.56%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.91.
Read Our Latest Report on FAST
Fastenal Profile
(
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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