R Squared Ltd Buys New Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 14,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $402,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Fastenal by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 98,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,107,000 after purchasing an additional 10,239 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $832,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $73.24 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.68. The firm has a market cap of $41.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.