Canton Hathaway LLC Has $1.12 Million Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Canton Hathaway LLC cut its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% during 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. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,974,000 after buying an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 3.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $74.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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 lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group began 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

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.