Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 409,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,443,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in Fastenal by 73.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Fastenal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $75.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. 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, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. 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 is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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.