Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stake Reduced by X Square Capital LLC

X Square Capital LLC decreased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its position in Fastenal by 440.7% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

FAST stock opened at $77.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.83. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $44.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a PEG 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.