Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS trimmed its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 40.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,160 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,105,454,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter worth approximately $859,310,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter worth approximately $410,919,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter worth approximately $239,279,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter worth approximately $230,169,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Up 3.0%

FAST stock opened at $54.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market cap of $62.61 billion, a PE ratio of 44.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.66. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $38.97 and a 12 month high of $54.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.48.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 83.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Weiss Ratings raised Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Argus raised their target price on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.46.

Fastenal Company Profile