Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 110,100 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,243,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 110,100 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $161,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,199,150,000 after buying an additional 592,583 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,214,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,713 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $522,558,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,640,000 after buying an additional 33,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST stock opened at $81.54 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.56, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $76.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.64. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 87.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.10.

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.