HM Payson & Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

HM Payson & Co. decreased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 38.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $79.80 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost 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 2.16%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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