Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 999,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,041 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $71,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.8 %

Fastenal stock opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.65 billion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.78. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

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.