LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,258 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,259 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company's stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,262,000 after purchasing an additional 507,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,443,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on FAST. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.01. 326,369 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,912,527. The firm's fifty day moving average is $74.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.83. The company has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released 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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. 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.