Guggenheim Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 215,337 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,666 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $15,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,888,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $656,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in Fastenal by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 94,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,823,000 after buying an additional 7,805 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 5,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.10.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock traded down $1.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.24. 417,006 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,077,461. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $46.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a PEG 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $76.29 and its 200 day moving average is $76.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 87.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.