Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,464,206 shares of the company’s stock after selling 119,831 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.30% of Fastenal worth $139,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,515,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,430,322,000 after buying an additional 2,346,045 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,734,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,196,502,000 after buying an additional 631,889 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,297,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,031,000 after buying an additional 919,158 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,508,216,000 after buying an additional 685,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Fastenal by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,215,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,307,000 after buying an additional 2,242,116 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Fastenal from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays set a $46.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fastenal from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.85.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $46.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.24. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.34.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 15.39%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.