Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 489 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,551 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at $36,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Fastenal by 440.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of FAST opened at $74.78 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.43. The company has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. 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 twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 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.