First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Trims Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA trimmed its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 45.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,533 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $487,616.07. This trade represents a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens increased their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.10.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $81.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $76.14 and its 200 day moving average is $76.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.56%.

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.