5,694 Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after purchasing an additional 507,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 928,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.73. The company has a market capitalization of $44.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.