Townsquare Capital LLC Increases Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,278 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 88,159 shares of the company's stock worth $6,342,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,157 shares of the company's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 270,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,450,000 after buying an additional 13,150 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 21,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,572,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 35,056 shares of the company's stock worth $2,521,000 after buying an additional 3,596 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stephens upped 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $81.54. 3,497,558 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,087,855. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $46.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.72. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.56%.

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.