DF Dent & Co. Inc. Sells 212,779 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. cut its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,297,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 212,779 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for about 2.1% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. DF Dent & Co. Inc. owned 0.40% of Fastenal worth $165,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,150,000 after acquiring an additional 592,583 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,214,002,000 after buying an additional 234,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $522,558,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $78.01 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.46 and a 200-day moving average of $76.11. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

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.