Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Buys New Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.15. The firm has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 85.57%.

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.