Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 43,765 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295,670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,765 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $21,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% during 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 buying an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $44,836,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $77.09 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.29 and a 200-day moving average of $75.82.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.