Tredje AP fonden Reduces Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Tredje AP fonden lowered its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,709 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $16,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 20.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth $25,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth $921,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 13,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Finally, First National Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC lowered shares of 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 lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.8 %

FAST stock opened at $75.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $43.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 50-day moving average of $74.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.20.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. 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 2.26%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.