National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 389,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,076 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $27,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its position in Fastenal by 440.7% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of FAST opened at $78.01 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.11. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.