Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 234,713 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,214,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 13.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 24,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Fastenal by 70.5% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 131,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,369,000 after acquiring an additional 54,228 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 216,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 73,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,257,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.09.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal 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.