Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,144 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,144 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $873,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 36,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 8,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.2 %

FAST opened at $75.51 on Friday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. 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 company has a market cap of $43.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.47.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly 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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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