Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 3,300 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 54.1% during the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $73.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. 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 $75.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 is currently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently 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.