Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Lowers Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,761 shares of the company’s stock after selling 484 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

FAST stock opened at $77.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.