Vanguard Group Inc. Has $5.20 Billion Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 592,583 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Fastenal worth $5,199,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.6% in the third 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 during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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 raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research upped 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.08 and a 200-day moving average of $75.65. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. 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 2.30%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

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.