Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Purchased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 384,029 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,672 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Fastenal worth $27,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FAST. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,655,000 after acquiring an additional 26,254 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST remained flat at $77.09 during trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 2,763,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,923,273. The company's 50-day moving average is $75.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm 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%. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. 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 2.23%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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 raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective 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, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.