Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Takes $4.29 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 59,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,000.

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

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.09 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.29 and a 200-day moving average of $75.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FAST. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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.