Sepio Capital LP Lowers Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sepio Capital LP lessened its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,095 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $873,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after buying an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,932,000 after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 36,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.42 on Friday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.48 and a 200 day moving average of $76.19. 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 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 for 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%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio 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.