Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys Shares of 32,086 Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 32,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $354,655,000 after buying an additional 26,254 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the third 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 buying an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $76.06. 675,635 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,909,447. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.41.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal's payout ratio is 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.