Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,535,881 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,356,338 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,404,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its stake in Fastenal by 440.7% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $74.78 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.49. 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 (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). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. 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.