Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys New Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 12,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Fastenal by 440.7% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.49. 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 has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

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.