Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Raises Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,798 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1,789.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,262,000 after buying an additional 507,364 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $79.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.27 and its 200 day moving average is $75.04. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

About Fastenal

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.