Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,993 shares of the company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 1.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 3.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 36,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 8,380 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $74.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.82. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

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.