Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Acquired by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $74.78 on Friday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.