Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 1,961 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 301,423 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Fastenal worth $21,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $75.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.35. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Fastenal Company 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.