Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,607 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,191 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,199,150,000 after purchasing an additional 592,583 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,002,000 after buying an additional 234,713 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $522,558,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,640,000 after acquiring an additional 33,718 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Up 6.4 %

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $80.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.56 and a 200-day moving average of $76.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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.