Swiss National Bank Has $116.33 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,617,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Fastenal worth $116,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.24. The company has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current 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. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 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.