DnB Asset Management AS Grows Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,728 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,457 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Fastenal were worth $16,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $522,558,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $101,183,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock worth $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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 Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,356,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,064,845. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.98.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. 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.