F M Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

F M Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,296 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,888 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.79 on Friday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.71, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.26.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.