KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $13.54 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 188,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,544,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock worth $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,836,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,689,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,059,681. 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 has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. 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.