Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 72,061 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 498,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,061 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $35,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $522,558,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $101,183,000. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 880,372 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.17 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.35 and a 200-day moving average of $75.98. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change 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 is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

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.