Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 180 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 53,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised their target price 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. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $73.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.09 and a 200-day moving average of $74.04. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

About Fastenal

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.