Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Acquires 284 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,159 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. grew its stake in Fastenal by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $1,756,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 3.8% in 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. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Fastenal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.09 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. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.86, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.08 and its 200 day moving average is $74.54.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Company 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.