Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Acquired by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,888 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $12,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.10.

Insider Activity 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 value of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $81.54 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 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 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

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

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.