Private Trust Co. NA Has $188,000 Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Private Trust Co. NA reduced its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 36,742 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC downgraded 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.8 %

FAST opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.78. The firm has a market cap of $42.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

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.