Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 9.7% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 13,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 3.0% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 34,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 29,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC cut 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. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $75.26 on Friday. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.74 and its 200-day moving average is $75.24. The stock has a market cap of $43.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its 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). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

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.