Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 257,629 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 204.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 383,483 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 257,629 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Fastenal worth $27,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company's stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,659,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,438.4% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 41,368 shares of the company's stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 38,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 96.6% in the second quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,610 shares of the company's stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 6,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.8 %

Fastenal stock traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.08. The stock had a trading volume of 7,826,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,340,277. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.93. The company has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,211,126. Insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut Fastenal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Fastenal 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.