SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,090 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,936 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,179,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,004 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after acquiring an additional 957,091 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,435,000 after acquiring an additional 711,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Fastenal by 9.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,445,000 after buying an additional 568,372 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total transaction of $1,364,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,285. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,082 shares of company stock valued at $2,584,060 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. HSBC boosted their target price on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5 %

FAST traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $68.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,592,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,941,271. The stock has a market cap of $39.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $52.85 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.21 and its 200 day moving average is $67.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

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.