Independent Advisor Alliance Has $1.44 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,980 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 196,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,103,000 after acquiring an additional 21,151 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 200,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Fastenal by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,931,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,480,000 after buying an additional 288,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $75.26 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. The company has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.24.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.