Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 399 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,398 shares of the company’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,199,150,000 after acquiring an additional 592,583 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,214,002,000 after buying an additional 234,713 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $522,558,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,640,000 after buying an additional 33,718 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $80.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a PE ratio of 39.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.79. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.56%.

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.