Parthenon LLC Decreases Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Parthenon LLC decreased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 271,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,093 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for 2.4% of Parthenon LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $19,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $75.57 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.23. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase 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.