Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,243,436 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 110,100 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.39% of Fastenal worth $161,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in Fastenal by 440.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,616.07. This trade represents a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.10.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ FAST traded up $1.70 on Thursday, hitting $81.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,110,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,082,931. The firm has a market cap of $46.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $76.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.84. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.56%.

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.