IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Trims Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lowered its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,911 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $77.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.82. 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.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.