Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 74,080 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,423,020 shares of the company's stock after selling 74,080 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.12% of Fastenal worth $461,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company's stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company's stock worth $38,262,000 after purchasing an additional 507,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 59.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 928,377 shares of the company's stock worth $66,305,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded 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, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $75.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,299,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,801. 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 market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.23. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's payout ratio is 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.