Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 5,966 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,966 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $10,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Fastenal by 9.6% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 12.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 197,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,129,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 354,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,327,000 after buying an additional 6,659 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $310,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note 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 stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FAST opened at $77.09 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.23 and a 200 day moving average of $75.81. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Fastenal 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.