Fastenal Company $FAST Stake Boosted by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,870 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,009 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FAST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,417,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,395,000 after purchasing an additional 183,238 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 12.4% during the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 874,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,021,000 after buying an additional 96,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,347,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,983,000 after buying an additional 50,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $51.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.46.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $55.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.65. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $38.97 and a 52-week high of $56.27. The firm has a market cap of $63.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.80, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies, serving businesses that need products to maintain facilities, support production and complete building projects. Its offerings include fasteners such as screws, nuts and bolts, as well as safety supplies, tools and other maintenance, repair and operations products. In addition to product distribution, Fastenal provides services designed to help customers manage supplies and purchasing. These include inventory management, on-site support and industrial vending solutions that make frequently used items available at customer facilities.