Bellecapital International Ltd. Purchases 7,297 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,611 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,297 shares during the quarter. Fastenal comprises 1.8% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $10,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 1,789.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after purchasing an additional 507,364 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $29,443,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on 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 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.73 on Friday. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $43.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

Fastenal Company 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.