Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 20,041 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 999,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,041 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.17% of Fastenal worth $71,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $74.09 and a 200 day moving average of $74.78. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $42.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research boosted their price target 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 Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Company 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.