Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 859 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 859 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FAST. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,836,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.1 %

FAST opened at $75.26 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.35. The company has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. 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.