Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 19,800 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 153,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,800 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $11,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research lifted 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 assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.5 %

FAST stock opened at $74.78 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.22 and a 200-day moving average of $74.43. The company has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month 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 released its 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

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