Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Holdings Decreased by Isthmus Partners LLC

Isthmus Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $873,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its position in Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,373,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $79.98 on Monday. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. 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 cap of $45.86 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

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.