Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating 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 one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $73.68 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.04. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be 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 is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

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.