Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $1.49 Billion Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.62% of Fastenal worth $1,493,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,655,000 after buying an additional 26,254 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $336,974,000 after acquiring an additional 226,126 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 3.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company's stock worth $350,703,000 after buying an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on FAST. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,833,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,335. The stock has a market cap of $42.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.83. 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 has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 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.