Vestcor Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Vestcor Inc lessened its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,999 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,916 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.91.

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Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $73.69 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $42.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $74.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.19. 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 data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Fastenal 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.

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