Financial Counselors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,358 shares of the company’s stock after selling 762 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.