Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 225,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,217,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $75.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.58 billion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $74.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.20. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. HSBC cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.91.

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.

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