Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Has $6.82 Million Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,886 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,805 shares during the quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 0.8% during the 4th 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. increased its holdings 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 worth $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $1,214,002,000 after buying an additional 234,713 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $522,558,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Fastenal by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,640,000 after buying an additional 33,718 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Up 6.4 %

Shares of FAST opened at $80.64 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.37. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on FAST shares. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to 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.