Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,653 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $74.73 on Monday. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.65. The company has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio 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.