United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Takes Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $101,000. United Services Automobile Association raised its stake in Fastenal by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $308,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.09 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The firm has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.81. 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 data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

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.