Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Trims Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,761 shares of the company’s stock after selling 484 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $101,183,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,836,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.73 on Friday. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.83. 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 stock has a market cap of $44.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FAST. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

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.