Cozad Asset Management Inc. Buys 155 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,985 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 103,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,413,000 after purchasing an additional 12,861 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 111,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 12,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 16,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $76.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $43.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.46.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

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.