Sanctuary Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC cut its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,682 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $75.57 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.23. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.