Haverford Trust Co Sells 417 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 592,583 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,655,000 after acquiring an additional 26,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $76.94 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.16 and its 200 day moving average is $75.73. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $44.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

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 business 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.