Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 10,909 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 227.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,698 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,909 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 103.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,141,000 after purchasing an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,743,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,800. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $39.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $45.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.42. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $35.31 and a 12 month high of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.24%.

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.