Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Nicholas Company Inc.

Nicholas Company Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,156,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,900 shares during the period. Fastenal makes up approximately 1.3% of Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Nicholas Company Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Fastenal worth $83,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% during 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 raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Up 2.1 %

FAST stock opened at $75.26 on Friday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, 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 released 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). 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. 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.