Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 386 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.54. The stock has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. 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.