Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $40.77 Million Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 567,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,768 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $40,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities 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 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $79.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.27 and its 200 day moving average is $74.99. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The firm has a market cap of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm 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 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.