Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 435,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,705 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Fastenal worth $31,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $16,648,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,095,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $72.16 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The company has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. 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 2.38%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 85.57%.

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.