Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,119 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,151 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $14,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FAST. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Remove Ads

Fastenal Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of FAST stock traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.26. 4,083,686 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,951,887. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company's 50-day moving average price is $74.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.19. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

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.