Pictet North America Advisors SA Boosts Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Pictet North America Advisors SA boosted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 77,419 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares during the quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.04. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year 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.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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.