Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Purchased by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,381 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 440.7% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.81. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. 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 quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

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.