Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 7,934 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 468,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,934 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $33,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 196,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,103,000 after buying an additional 21,151 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 200,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,436,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $79.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.43 and a 200-day moving average of $75.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on FAST shares. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on 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 Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.