CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 96,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,751 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $522,558,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $77.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.09.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.