Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases 489 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,551 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 2.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 33,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 783.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 125,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,988,000 after purchasing an additional 111,615 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.9% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Fastenal by 3.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.43.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s 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.