Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Position Cut by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 128,047 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,446 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after purchasing an additional 507,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 59.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 928,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of 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 on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $74.78 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.10. The firm has a market cap of $42.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid 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 2.30%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.