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

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lessened its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 101,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,588,000 after buying an additional 5,509 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 900,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,304,000 after purchasing an additional 31,814 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,338,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,204,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Fastenal by 178.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 78,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 49,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on FAST. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC boosted their target price on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.33.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.78. 3,945,343 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,962,624. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $52.86 and a 12 month high of $79.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.29. The company has a market capitalization of $38.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.06, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.23%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.