Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 56,726 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 974,348 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,726 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.17% of Fastenal worth $70,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,000. United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,631 shares of the company's stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,199,150,000 after buying an additional 592,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,689,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,059,682. 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 has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.94. The stock has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

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Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.