Cynosure Group LLC Lowers Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Cynosure Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,342 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 1.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 216,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 73,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,257,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on FAST. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $78.01 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.