Bellecapital International Ltd. Grows Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,611 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,297 shares during the period. Fastenal comprises 1.8% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $10,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FAST. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.09 and its 200 day moving average is $74.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Fastenal’s 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.