Pictet North America Advisors SA Purchases 1,829 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,419 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares during the quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 354,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,327,000 after acquiring an additional 6,659 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 31,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,285,000 after acquiring an additional 9,462 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 68,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,919,000 after acquiring an additional 3,937 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Fastenal by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 58,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,201,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.79 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.04. 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 $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 2.30%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

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.