Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Cypress Capital Group

Cypress Capital Group lessened its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,384 shares of the company’s stock after selling 766 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 36,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FAST. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $74.49 on Thursday. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.82. The firm has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 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.