Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,617,700 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Fastenal worth $116,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock worth $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,836,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. HSBC cut 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, 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 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.91.

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Fastenal Trading Up 0.5 %

FAST stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.46. 2,573,264 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,914,154. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.90 and a 200-day moving average of $75.46. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.